Atlanta Jewish TImes Vol 90 No. 3, January 30, 2015

HOME IN HILLS

Congregation Bet Haverim finds a warm welcome from its Orthodox neighbors.

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KEHILLA FEST

TRIBAL QUEST

An unusual synagogue prepares to rock out for its rabbi’s fifth anniversary.

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Modern Tribe rides the streetcar off the beaten Jewish business path.

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Atlanta VOL. XC NO. 3

JANUARY 30, 2015 | 10 SHEVAT 5775

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Prosecutor’s Death Doesn’t Kill AMIA Evidence

Opinion

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Obituaries

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Holocaust

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Simchas

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Education

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Crossword

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By Suzi Brozman wenty years ago a car bomb killed 85 people and injured over 200 at AMIA, Argentina’s largest Jewish center. Rumors of government involvement and of Iranian responsibility have since swirled through South America’s largest Jewish community.

Special prosecutor Alberto Nisman implicated current President Cristina Fernandez in a cover-up of the Iranian role, and he was due to reveal his evidence and findings at a hearing Jan. 19.

Instead, the day before, he was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head in his apartment with a gun at his side.

His death was ruled a suicide, but Fernandez quickly said that was not the case and hinted at unnamed operatives using Nisman by feeding him false information, then killing him once he played his part.

A team of investigators is looking into Nisman’s death.

Damian Pachter, the journalist who first reported the details of Nisman’s death, fled Argentina for Israel within days of the death after, he said, facing government intimidation.

Nisman is rumored to have emailed his evidence and allegations to others, including three friends and the country’s former chief of counterintelligence.

“This is a part of the unfortunate history of Argentina,” Congregation Or Hadash Rabbi Analia Bortz said. “In general, it’s hate of the Jews. It is happening again. It is very sad but not surprising.”

Rabbi Bortz and her husband, Rabbi Mario Karpuj, who lived in Buenos Aires at the time of the AMIA bombing, talk about the atmosphere in Argentina on

Business

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Cartoon

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The Ramon Crater, as seen from David Ben-Gurion’s grave, is part of the rugged beauty of the Negev, but most Israelis still resist living amid such arid vistas.

Photo by Marcy Levinson

A DREAM DELAYED JNF tries to fulfill Ben-Gurion’s vision of a populated Negev, FAMILY BUSINESS

Writing runs from generation to generation for Bernie and Maggie Schein.

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HIGHER CEILING

“Raise the Roof” celebrates two UGA grads’ re-creations of lost Polish wooden shuls.

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Local News Israel

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INSIDE 2

Calendar

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9

Arts

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LOCAL NEWS

Entebbe’s First Boots on the Ground

IDF Red Beret Sassy Reuven recounts the great hostage rescue being invited to leave by the Libyan government. Through the next six days while the Jewish hostages and the plane’s pilots sat in the old terminal of the Entebbe airport in Ethiopia, the IDF prepared for a rescue.

The French bought the hostages time. Mossad agents posed as transportation business owners seeking to expand into the Entebbe airport to ensure that the rescue planes could refuel. The Israeli air force took detailed pictures of the airport in a commercial jet while pretending to attempt several emergency landings.

In addition, an Israeli firm had built the old terminal in Entebbe.

Reuven was made second in command of his unit, under Nechemya Tamari (amajor general when he died in a helicopter accident in 1994). The unit was cut to 15 soldiers and was briefed on the mission the day before the rescue attempt. “Every man in my unit was given two years and one day of special operations training for this mission.”

The unit was first on the ground

By Michael A. Morris michael@atljewishtimes.com

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n just 25 minutes nearly 40 years ago, Sassy Reuven secured his place in history.

About 70 people joined Rabbi Hirshy Minkowicz at Chabad of North Fulton on Jan. 20 to listen to Reuven recount his part in the Raid at Entebbe on July 4, 1976, while America was celebrating its bicentennial. It was one of the most dynamic hostage rescues ever and established that the Israel Defense Forces could strike anywhere.

A hijacking June 27, 1976, put events in motion. “The moment Israel knew that an Air France flight had been hijacked,” Reuven said, “diplomatic and military options were set into motion.”

Reuven was a seasoned commando in the IDF’s elite Red Beret paratrooper unit when he and 28 others were picked for the rescue effort.

The hijacked plane spent four hours at the Benghazi airport before

in Entebbe, and Reuven led the way as the first man to step onto Ugandan soil at 11:30 p.m. The plane was still moving down the runway when the last man in his unit jumped off.

The unit’s job was to neutralize any terrorists and any of Idi Amin’s military who engaged from the new terminal and to secure the tower.

Within 25 minutes, the mission was accomplished with one (serious) injury, and Reuven and his men were racing to assist the unit rescuing the hostages.

“The most amazing thing that happened in my part of the raid: 10,000 bullets were fired in an incredibly short period of time,” Reuven said. “No hostages or civilians were hit.

We only sustained one injury, Top: Chabad of North Fulton Rabbi Hirshy Minkowicz hosts Entebbe raider Sassy Reuven on Jan. 20. and no plane that was taking Photos by Michael A. Morris us home was damaged. That Bottom: About 70 people listen to the Jan. 20 seems impossible.” ■ presentation on the Raid at Entebbe.

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Jewish Film Festiva

East Cobb’s Hailee Grey takes over USY international.

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Midtown A silent march through solidarity Atlanta on Jan. 11 shows of terror. days three after with Paris Page 8

URBAN BLIGHT? Cityhood proposals could slice up Toco Hills Page 2

PRAYER AND STUDY

A new mosque in Cobb, a new kollel in DeKalb Pages 4, 22

INSIDE 3 Israel Pride 9 Opinion 10 Editorial 10 g Lightin Candle 12 Calendar 19 Shaindle’s Shpeil

Education Simchas Business Obituaries Cartoon Classifieds

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Jewish Music Festival Goes International

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By David Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com Music Festival he Atlanta Jewish onal music to is bringing internati event. town for the sixth annual will feature IsThe Spring Festival um and Diwan Saz raeli Yael Deckelba Jump Babylon. and Montreal-based g young, With an eye on attractin10 events on put will intown Jews, AJMF The festival will in 12 days in March. band Red Heifers include Macon-based (Hannah) Zale, and Atlanta-area artists and Tony Levitas. um Rosenba Sammy about this “We are really excited ” said Russell Gottyear’s Spring Festival, founder and direcschalk, the festival’s onal performtor. “We’ve had internati our opening never at ers in the past but entirely focused never night, and we’ve specifically peron international artists, main event. at our formers from Israel, r Yael DeckMain event headline a ed since age 16 as elbaum has perform an album this solo artist and is releasing of the Israeli member spring. She is also a a. folk trio Habanot Necham seven Jews, of Diwan Saz consists perform who s Muslims and Christian Central Asia, Turkey ancient music from g peace and underand Israel, promotin music. standing through their y, March AJMF6 kicks off Thursda with Jump Baby12, at Steve’s Live Music inspired ska/roots/ lon and its klezmervenue will also Springs Sandy rock. The party March 14. host Zale’s album release a stage at The festival will produce ity Food 22 Commun 31st annual Atlanta 25 the Hunger Walk/Run on March 15.

Bank be March 21 at 26 The main event will se.

27 the Variety Playhou Festival inAdditions to the Spring 31 showcase at Temple clude a cantorial a closing Ho31 Emanu-El on March 22 and March 23. concert locaust remembrance Photo credit: Jon Gargis

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LOCAL NEWS

A Less Orthodox Toco Hills Shul

Bet Haverim Finds a Home in Young Israel’s Former Property

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respectful engagement” with their Orthodox neighbors. “This is an opportunity for us to not let ourselves feel less authentic [and to] not dismiss or demean the Orthodox community.”

The move to LaVista Road has personal meaning for Rabbi Lesser, who has served since 1999 as Bet Haverim’s first full-time rabbi. A native Atlantan, he is an alumnus of the Hebrew Academy and attended Yeshiva Atlanta High School before graduating from Paideia School.

“It gives me an opportunity to reconnect with former classmates who live in Toco Hills,” he said. “I have personal respect and deep pride for Jewish tradition.”

Rabbi Lesser said his dealings with Young Israel and connections with others in the Toco Hills community have taken him on a rabbinical path he hadn’t expected to follow.

“I’ve always been a bridge builder,” he said, referring to his coalitions with interfaith, African-American and straight groups. Now he’s adding “intrafaith” bridge-building.

Amy Robertson, the Bet Haverim executive director, made the connection that led to the purchase of Young Israel’s former building at 2074 LaVista Road. At a meeting of metro Atlanta synagogue executive directors last May, Robertson chatted with Young Israel’s executive director, Eliana Leader, about the space Young Israel was vacating.

“That opened up the conversation, and the presidents got together,” Robertson said.

“Young Israel has been nothing but warm and welcoming to us,” she added. “Diversity is a wonderful thing for all of us.”

Besides the financial benefit to his synagogue, Rabbi Starr said he was pleased to find a Jewish buyer for the property.

“Our membership is overwhelmingly supportive, and we want to welcome our new neighbors,” Rabbi Starr said. “We’re looking forward to welcoming them.”

Purchasing a building from another synagogue eliminated zoning hassles for Bet Haverim.

According to Robertson, funds were immediately available to buy Young Israel’s building, thanks to some members who, in the early 2000s, were proactive in raising money for an eventual purchase.

Congregation Bet Haverim President Charlie Chasen (center front) and members Andy Segal (left), Jamie Collins, Kim Goldsmith, Jan Levie and Max Levie-Sprick (behind Chasen) spruce up the entry to the congregation’s new home in Toco Hills.

“People had such faith in this project even before we had a place,” Robertson said.

A small mortgage was obtained for renovations and will be paid for from the synagogue’s operating budget.

County records show that the sale price was $518,000.

While Rabbi Lesser said he is

excited about having a place “to create our unique sense of home in our own building,” he acknowledged that it “might be a stepping stone” to a larger structure.

The Sunday school will continue to be held at the Friends Meeting House, and, if necessary, office space will still be rented at the Congregational Church location. ■

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By Fran Memberg here’s a new kid on the block of synagogues and Jewish day schools stretching along LaVista Road from Clairmont Road to Briarcliff Road.

Congregation Bet Haverim purchased the building formerly owned

by Young Israel of Toco Hills, which in September moved down LaVista to a new congregational home.

The sale was finalized in October. Bet Haverim expects to occupy the building by the end of spring when renovations are completed.

“It’s one of the biggest Shechecheyanu moments of our synagogue,” said Charlie Chasen, the Bet Haverim president, referring to the Jewish prayer of thanks for holidays and special occasions. “We’re excited to be makers of our own destiny and feel connected to our own place.”

Bet Haverim, Hebrew for “house of friends,” was founded in 1987 by gay men and lesbians “as a Jewish home where they could bring their whole selves to fully engage Judaism and Jewish life,” according to the synagogue’s website (congregationbethaverim.org). It has grown to 350 member households of diverse backgrounds and a Sunday school with 150 students.

For nine years it has rented space for worship, programs, events and adult education at the Central Congregational United Church of Christ on Clairmont Road. The Sunday school is at the Atlanta Friends Meeting House in Decatur.

“It feels warm and welcoming to be part of a Jewish community,” said Chasen, harking back to Bet Haverim’s formative years, when it was “told it would never be able to sit at the Jewish community table.”

Bet Haveim staff and clergy echoed Chasen’s sentiments about the way Young Israel, a Modern Orthodox congregation, has treated the move of a progressive, Reconstructionist congregation into the LaVista corridor of traditional Judaism.

“Rabbi Starr and I have been laying the foundation with ongoing conversations,” Bet Haverim Rabbi Joshua Lesser said about his Young Israel counterpart, Adam Starr. “He has been warm and welcoming to our board.”

Rabbi Lesser said he spoke to his congregants about “modeling pluralism and respect for differences,

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LOCAL NEWS

If You Build It, They Will Pray

The Kehilla, Rabbi Ingber mark half a decade of creating community

By Logan C. Ritchie

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

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n mid-December, a young couple from Russia walked into a synagogue and asked the rabbi to marry them. With no family in Atlanta, the bride and groom expected a small, simple ceremony.

Six days later, the couple stood under a chuppah in a backyard garden. Seventy guests, all strangers to the couple before that day, donated a white dress and veil, cooked food, and celebrated the nuptials.

That is the power of the Sandy Springs synagogue called The Kehilla.

During the past five years, Rabbi Karmi David Ingber has engaged hundreds of Jews across Atlanta.

Rabbi Ingber and his wife, Elisheva, lived in Israel, Montreal and Birmingham before being recruited to build this community in Sandy Springs. He is lively, inventive and passionate.

His enthusiasm for learning and for the rituals of Judaism infuses experiences that draw young adults, couples, newlyweds and seniors to The Kehilla. means community.

Kehilla This spirited group hosts concerts, classes, social events and Shabbat dinners. Lively Shabbat services are juxtaposed against the unlikely meeting space, a former office building at 5075 Roswell Road. From a Torah discussion at a pub to a crash course on reading Hebrew, The Kehilla offers many entry points.

The creativity of events attracts first-timers, but the warmth keeps them coming back.

Rachel Linkwald, with her husband and young daughter, moved to Sandy Springs to be closer to The Kehilla.

“There are certain experiences that pop out as transformative, but it’s the whole that makes us want to be in The Kehilla forever. This is an intentional community, and those are so rare,” she said. “We were looking to be friends with people outside the synagogue setting.”

Her first night at The Kehilla was an awkward Friday Shabbat service. Linkwald felt uncomfortable in the tiny group, Rabbi Ingber was new to Atlanta, and the service was held at a senior living facility. Then

it all changed.

“The rebbetzin invited us to Shabbat dinner that night. I actually stumbled backward because it was such a foreign idea,” Linkwald said.

“I told my husband, ‘You’re not going to believe this.’ Their home was warm and friendly. And we spent 12 hours together that weekend.”

Founding member Lynette Joel said: “The Kehilla is what we wanted our whole lives. We are a community that lacks discrimination. Whether it is socio-economic, age or origin, everyone is treated in the same way.

No one feels left out.”

Ginny Adams said she is a softer person because she has incorporated Judaism into her everyday life.

“The Kehilla is a safe place to expose yourself. The community has given me space and time to experiment,” she said. “I started with giving technology a break on Shabbat. It had nothing to do with laws of Judaism; it was just a realization that I need a break in life. Now I’m shomer Shabbat.”

Adams is a testament to the varied congregation.

“Ninety-five percent of people here were not raised Orthodox,” she said. “They are on a journey to experimenting and learning the origin of Shabbat, how to keep a proper kosher kitchen and how to engage God in everyday life. It is not about wearing a wig and sitting on the women’s side.

It’s about friendship and community.

It’s a place that’s nurturing.”

Rabbi Ingber is turning the synagogue concept on its head. He has no expectation that those who attend events will become members. “Young people are not often interested in the synagogue component. Some are even members at other synagogues.

The Kehilla helps people experience Judaism in a way that speaks to the individual,” he said. “At The Kehilla we take Jewish ideas and make them user-friendly. Young adults want to hear about Jewish things, just not in the same old way.”

Linkwald refers to it as custombuilding her Jewish experience.

“This synagogue has the heart we were looking for. We are tiny, and we don’t have the gorgeous building and place to hold a huge wedding. But everyone knows me really well, and we are getting a spiritual infusion.” ■

“At The Kehilla we take Jewish ideas and make them user-friendly,” Rabbi Karmi David Ingber says.

Celebrating 5 Years Of The Kehilla

By Logan C. Ritchie

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o celebrate five years of leading a thriving Jewish community, Rabbi Karmi David Ingber and The Kehilla will host Kehilla Fest, featuring Israeli-American rock band Moshav, on Sunday, Feb. 8.

In an appearance co-sponsored by the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival, Moshav promises to entertain 500 people with progressive rock. “Moshav is more Red Hot Chili Peppers than Imagine Dragons,” AJMF Director Russell Gottschalk said. “It’s a gotta-rock, sometimes-acoustic, West Coast sound.”

Gottschalk’s favorite Moshav tune is “Only One.” He said: “You could be talking about a lover or a boyfriend or girlfriend, but this song is about God. Moshav’s music is approachable for those who have not been exposed to a lot of Jewish music.”

Moshav recently recorded “World on Fire” with Jewish reggae artist Matishayhu.

Rabbi Ingber will perform with the band. An accomplished musician, Rabbi Ingber joined the Diaspora Yeshiva Band in Israel and later formed his own group, Remez, with former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle.

“The Kehilla is a musical community,” Rabbi Ingber said. “Part of the joy of Judaism is in the happiness of music.”

Kehilla Fest is being held at Atlanta Jewish Academy, 5200 Northland Ave., Sandy Springs. The show starts at 7 p.m.; doors open at 6:30.

Tickets are $36 and are available at thekehilla.org/kehillafest. ■

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LOCAL NEWS

Shelter Residents Get Makeovers

Atlanta

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llie J Salon in Sandy Springs treated 12 women from the Shearith Israel Shelter to new hairstyles, hair color, manicures and cosmetic makeovers Jan. 11.

Salon owner Joyce Ott donated the space and supplies, and her staff donated the services to the homeless women, ages 27 to 66.

Dan and Ellen Katz of Sandy Springs arranged the makeovers after volunteering at the shelter in December.

“All the women in the shelter are working or looking for jobs now, so their personal appearance is very im-

portant,” shelter Executive Director Sallie Weddell said.

“Dan and Ellen recognized this and arranged this beauty day when the salon is normally closed so the staff could devote their time to shelter residents.”

The Shearith Israel Shelter in Morningside has provided emergency housing and supportive services to homeless women for 31 years. The shelter’s services include computer coaching, job-hunting assistance and case management. ■

MICHAEL JACOBS

mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com Associate Editor

DAVID COHEN

david@atljewishtimes.com Contributing This Week

ARLENE APPELROUTH DAVID BENKOF RABBI ERIN BOXT SUZI BROZMAN BABETTE FREED JORDAN GORFINKEL MARCIA JAFFE MARCY LEVINSON KEVIN MADIGAN ROBBIE MEDWED FRAN MEMBERG CAROL NIEMI BOB PEPALIS LOGAN RITCHIE ARIEL ROTHENBERG DAVE SCHECHTER SHAINDLE SCHMUCKLER EUGEN SCHOENFELD PENNY SCHWARTZ

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LOCAL NEWS

Interfaith Conversation Open for New Generation Higher Ground wraps up 5-year mission of exploration

By David Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com ive years ago four longtime Atlanta religious leaders embarked together on an interfaith journey to lead positive change.

Now that journey is coming to an end.

The Higher Ground Group, composed of the Rev. Joanna Adams of First Presbyterian Church, Imam Plemon El-Amin of the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam, the Rev. Joe Roberts of Ebenezer Baptist Church and Rabbi Alvin Sugarman of The Temple, is calling it quits. Since 2010 they have been active through a weekly blog, strong social media presence and special-event panels where the leaders held conversations with inspired members of the metro Atlanta community.

Calling themselves “faith-based but not faith-biased,” the group explored current issues and hoped to demonstrate that humanity can work together through differences in

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background and religion.

After ending the blog in February, the group of emeritus clergy will meet in March to close out the partnership.

“Over the last five years, we’ve gotten older and had a few health issues, so I imagine that has something to do with it,” Rabbi Sugarman said of ending the collaboration. “We are going to continue as individuals.

We’ve worked together on different projects over the years, and we will continue to work together on our own as far as I know.”

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta formed the organization, which has covered such issues as racial equality, homelessness, social justice and discrimination. The group planned to lead the way for future generations to make communities more welcoming through social action.

The full collection of Higher Ground blog posts will remain available on the Community Founda-

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The Higher Ground Group is (from left) Imam Plemon El-Amin, the Rev. Joanna Adams, Rabbi Alvin Sugarman and the Rev. Joe Roberts.

tion for Greater Atlanta’s website (www.cfgreateratlanta.org).

The Higher Ground Group has won many awards, including Emory University’s 18th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Innovation for Change.

Higher Ground helped raise awareness and inspire action on issues affecting all of Atlanta. Rabbi Sugarman said he hopes another group steps up to fill the group’s

shoes.

“It’s wide open,” he said. “The market is out there. I would urge that the generation behind us form some type of group that would pick up where we are leaving off. Whenever we did appearances as a group, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. So I think we were received with great gratitude, and we were successful.” ■

A Community Service

Artscape makes giving back to JF&CS fun school-related stress.

By Ariel Rothenberg My JF&CS experience conhen I was 10 firmed my mother’s belief in years old, Dr. the value of community.

Lori Wilson at This year, while applying Jewish Family & Career to graduate school, I have Services gave me a full enjoyed the opportunity to psychoeducational assessgive back to that community ment. Dr. Wilson turned as a volunteer coordinator what could have been a for a special JF&CS event: cold, clinical experience Artscape. into a warm and rewardAriel Rothenberg Artscape (www.ArtscapeAtl. ing one by taking the time org) provides families, parduring my evaluation to ticularly children, the opportunity get to know me as a daughter, sister, to get hands-on experiences with the friend and student. arts — visual, musical and physical

I was concerned about receiving a (dance) — and to give back to the learning disability label, as are many community while having fun. children and parents. For some chilThe event benefits the Counseldren, that label can make the path to ing Services — Tools for Life division success much more strenuous. at JF&CS, enabling individuals and I, however, was determined not families to better tackle life’s chalto let a label obstruct my education lenges.

Artscape therefore fits perand career goals, and Dr. Wilson fectly with my career objective to be made it easy for me to discuss my a mental health practitioner and my worries with her. The support I repassion for art. ceived from Dr. Wilson and JF&CS My job for Artscape this year is supplied me with many new tools.

I was able to take advantage of a to recruit volunteers, and I am exwonderful JF&CS resource: an art cited to see all my fellow volunteers therapy class, where I expressed my come together with the community to passion for art to help relieve my celebrate art, give back and support JF&CS. ■

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LOCAL NEWS

Diversity Grant Brings Together SOJOURN, GroundSpark

The Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity (SOJOURN) has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the Mandel Foundation to create gender and sexual diversity educational programming in partnership with the national documentary filmmaking and educational nonprofit GroundSpark.

“GroundSpark’s films are the perfect complement to the work that SOJOURN does throughout the Southeast,” SOJOURN Executive Director Rebecca Stapel-Wax said. “They tackle issues surrounding gender normativity and identity, homophobia, and family relationships in a real, down-to-earth way. Each documentary features children and teens who are living these experiences daily.”

Programming will take place throughout the Southeast, including Atlanta, Blue Ridge, Birmingham, and Asheville, N.C., and will be centered on GroundSpark’s “Respect for All” documentary films, including: • “Let’s Get Real,” a look at bullying and bias through the eyes of middle-schoolers.

• “Straightlaced — How Gender’s Got Us All Tied Up,” an exploration of how gender roles and sexuality pressures affect teens.

• “That’s a Family!,” an exploration of what children growing up in a wide range of family structures would like classmates to know about their families.

• “It’s Elementary — Talking About Gay Issues in School,” an exploration of how all young children are affected by anti-gay stigmas and the role adults can play to ensure that every student is safe and welcomed at school.

Initial programs are scheduled for Feb. 19 to 23 through public school districts, independent schools and Jewish community organizations. Visit sojourngsd.org/calendar for details.

Birthright Registration Opens Feb. 3

Registration for free summer trips to Israel through Taglit-Birthright Israel opens Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 10 a.m.

Any Jew age 18 to 26 who has not been on a peer educational trip to Israel since turning 18 and has not lived in Israel after age 12 is eligible for the 10-day trip.

If you previously registered but did not go on a trip, you can renew your registration as early as noon Feb. 2. Visit www.birthrightisrael.com for more information and to start the registration process.

Kol Emeth Renews Rabbi Boxt’s Contract

Temple Kol Emeth has signed Rabbi Erin Boxt to a three-year contract renewal, effective in July, the East Cobb Reform synagogue announced Jan. 23.

Rabbi Boxt joined Kol Emeth as the second rabbi, supporting longtime spiritual leader Rabbi Steven Lebow, in June 2012.

“I am very blessed to have the support of such an amazing congregation. The community has embraced me and my family, and we are excited to continue to call TKE our home,” said Rabbi Boxt, a University of Georgia alumnus.

“Temple Kol Emeth and the board of trustees are very pleased with the extension of Rabbi Boxt’s contract and look forward to the next three years of growing together and meeting the needs of our diverse congregation,” Kol Emeth President Henry Hene said. “We feel that our clergy team of Rabbi Steven Lebow and Rabbi Erin Boxt will continue to provide the strength and stability that we all seek.”

Federation Neutral on Scholarship Funds

The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta is neither for nor against an increase in the cap on the tax credits granted statewide for donations to student scholarship organizations such as the ALEF Fund, which works with 10 Jewish preschools and five Jewish day schools.

The state program to support scholarships at private schools hit the $58 million cap this year on the first day of applications, Jan. 1.

Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul, who is doing lobbying work for Federation at the state Capitol, incorrectly wrote in a message to Federation’s email list Jan. 22 that Federation supports additional tax credits. While the program has been beneficial to Jewish schools, Federation is staying neutral because some members of the Jewish community oppose diverting potential income taxes to private schools.

Neuman Hearing Focuses on Privilege

Hemy Neuman’s appeal of his murder conviction before the Georgia Supreme Court on Jan. 20 included the issue of perjury by the victim’s widow but concentrated more on whether the state violated the defense’s attorney-client privilege.

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Local Briefs

Neuman attorney J. Scott Key and DeKalb County Assistant District Attorney Anna Green Cross did address the issue of whether Andrea Sneiderman’s perjured testimony helped convict Neuman of murder in the shooting death of Rusty Sneiderman outside a Dunwoody preschool in November 2010.

But, Justices David Nahmias and Keith Blackwell spent much more time questioning Green on the state’s subpoena and use of evidence about evaluations of Neuman conducted by two psychologists the defense hired as consultants.

Key argued that the consultants’ notes and conclusions from their meetings with Neuman in jail were covered by attorney-client privilege because they were hired by the defense attorneys. Cross countered that the state has such a narrowly defined privilege that only statements Neuman made in response to questions sent by the attorneys through the consultants should be protected.

“I don’t know how you could ever have an expert in confidence evaluate your client” under such a narrow privilege, Nahmias said.

Neuman is serving life without parole after being found guilty but insane.

AJT 7

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

LOCAL NEWS

Singing and Dancing Around Jewish Atlanta

Party With PJ Library Children’s entertainer Joanie Leeds plays for the PJ Library crowd at Davis Academy on Jan. 25 with the accompaniment of Drummer Dan, whose kit draws the interest of some of the children before the show. Elana Sauer Satisky brings her own accompaniment to the show.

An Opening to Learning Photos by Duane Stork Congregation Beth Jacob Rabbi Ilan Feldman speaks to a capacity crowd of more than 400 people at the Kollel Ner Hamizrach grand opening Jan. 20. After the speeches, Rabbi Rabbi David Kapenstein (left), the kollel’s president and executive director, dances with visiting Rabbi Yossi Bitton of Kollel Zichron Binyamin in Lakewood, N.J.

JELF Alumni Shine

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

Seen on Social Media

AJT 8

This week’s selections from Facebook and Twitter highlight the varied talents among the younger crowd around Jewish Atlanta, from providing the music at a Havdalah celebration this month at one of the best kosher cookie shops around, Ali’s Cookies Emory at Emory Village, to bringing home the blue ribbons for Davis Academy robotics at a competition Jan. 25. To see your photos in Seen on Social Media, be sure to tag us on Twitter (@atljewishtimes) and Facebook (facebook.com/atljewishtimes).

The Jewish Educational Loan Fund benefit Jan. 24, with the support of the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival, brings out former beneficiaries of the last-dollar loans for the Defoor Centre show, including Duo de Vista (Marina Alexandra on guitar and Teri Forscher-Milter on flute) and singer George Slotin. Epstein School alumnus Joe Alterman, who headlined the show, plays earlier at Epstein..

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

ISRAEL

Israel Pride: Good News From Our Jewish Home

ALS treatment trial shows success.

Petach Tikva-based BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics has announced positive final results from its Phase 2a clinical trial of NurOwn cells in 14 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Nearly all subjects experienced clinical benefits.

World’s smallest, cheapest patch pump for diabetics. Israel’s TouchéMedical is developing a low-cost patch pump for patients of all ages with diabetes, Parkinson’s and other chronic conditions. An Israeli father-son team seeks to change the pump-delivery game with a significantly lower-cost and smarter patch pump, hoping to put the devices in reach of many more patients needing constant medication.

Teva launches generic painkiller.

Jerusalem-based Teva Pharmaceuticals has launched the first Food and Drug Administration-approved generic equivalent to Celebrex (Celecoxib) capsules in the United States. Celebrex is used to treat arthritis, menstrual cramps, colonic polyps and other pain.

The fruitful way to conceive. Israel’s Fruitful Way Ltd. has pioneered a natural fertility and conception toolkit for couples who are trying to get pregnant.

It includes a science-backed dietary supplement scientifically mated with a sophisticated fertility app.

City of tomorrow. Be’er Sheva is one of seven locations worldwide included in the Global Technology Emerging Markets study by Brandeis International and T3 Advisors of emerging, up-andcoming hubs that technology and life sciences companies should consider as they evaluate their global location strategy.

Israeli support to Palestinian farmers. The Israeli government has donated 300,000 shekels ($75,000) to five Palestinian farmers to upgrade their strawberry facilities. In addition, 30 Palestinian farmers studied strawberry cultivation in Israel. Annually, Is-

rael pays for 1,200 Palestinian farmers to study in Israel.

Water for India out of thin air. Rishon LeZion-based Water-Gen is bringing its pioneering air-to-water technology to India, where more than 50% of the urban poor — more than 150 million people — are not connected to a water supply.

Cambridge University funds Israeli scientists. The Blavatnik Family Foundation has set up a multimillion-pound investment fund for Israeli scientists to pursue postdoctoral research at Cambridge University. Three Israeli scientists are furthering their research in engineering, genetics and physics at Cambridge.

Exhibition pavilion opens in India.

An Israeli pavilion called Israel Innovation in India opened at Vibrant Gujarat 2015, exhibiting the ongoing Indo-Israeli cooperation and showcasing advanced Israeli technologies in the fields of agriculture and homeland security.

Edge. Still in a wheelchair, Ohad was given a break from his rehabilitation to officiate at the start of Eilat’s ironman triathlon, in which his father competed.

Historic plane rescued from scrap yard. A Curtiss C-46 Commando transport aircraft, used to rescue 100 Iraqi Jews in 1947, will soon return to Israel after being saved from a metal scrap yard in Argentina. Operation Michaelberg was launched when the British denied persecuted Iraqi Jews permission to enter Israel legally.

Tu B’Shevat, which falls on Feb. 4 this year, is the new year of trees. The Jewish National Fund celebrates the 250 million trees it has planted since the start of the 20th century for the shelter, beauty, sustenance, security and ties to the land they provide. For more information, visit www.jnf. org.

THE SONENSHINE TEAM

Moovit is really moving. Rehovotbased Moovit has raised $50 million for its mobile app that lets riders plan trips and avoid obstacles on public transit systems in more than 500 cities around the world.

Top 1% of Coldwell Banker Internationally Certified Negotiator, Luxury, New Homes and Corporate Relocation Specialist #1 Sales Associate in Sandy Springs Office Voted Favorite Jewish Realtor in AJT, Best of Jewish Atlanta

Israeli wins European speedskating gold medal. Israel’s Vladislav Bykanov won gold in the 3,000 meters at the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships. It is the first time an Israeli has won the competition. The 26-year-old from Kiryat Shmona badly beat world champion Viktor Ahn. Critically wounded soldier recovers to attend triathlon. Ohad Ben-Yishai received critical shrapnel wounds to the head during Operation Protective

Courtesy of verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot. com, with additional items from The New York Times and israel21c.org.

JNF: Deep-Rooted Commitment

Games are big business. Israel’s TabTale is one of the world’s top 10 publishers of mobile games with operations in Israel, the United States, China, Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Ukraine. TabTale recently bought Serbia’s Level Bit, developer of Genesis Rising, the biggest PC game hit by a Serbian company.

Bone-repair company plans Nasdaq IPO. Petach Tikva’s PolyPid is preparing to launch its stock on Nasdaq. PolyPid develops an antibiotic coating for safer bone repair. It also has two candidate bone-grafting materials and a unique PLEX (polymer-lipid encapsulation matrix) mechanism for delivering medicine into the body.

Ex-Army amputee volunteers for IDF. Brian Mast, a Christian American veteran who lost both legs in a bomb blast in Afghanistan, has joined the Israel Defense Forces’ Sar El volunteer program. He puts his pro-Israel attitude down to his upbringing, military contacts with IDF personnel and warm relations with his Florida Jewish neighbors.

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Jerusalem displays Jewish-developed cholera vaccine. Waldemar Haffkine, a Russian-Jewish microbiologist, developed the cholera vaccine in 1892.

Jerusalem’s Tower of David Museum is now exhibiting one of the original ampoules of vaccine. Haffkine also developed a vaccine for plague and was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1897. He donated his extensive personal archive to the National Library of Israel.

AJT 9

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

OPINION

Our View

Play Nice, Kids

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

O

AJT 10

ur fates, as Americans and Jews, are in the hands of children.

It’s hard to draw any other conclusion from the theatrics surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned appearance in Washington at the beginning of March.

First, House Speaker John Boehner decided to break precedent and invite a foreign leader to address a joint session of Congress without consulting the White House. We’d say the Republican was violating the taboo on congressional interference in foreign policy, but both parties long ago destroyed that tradition. Boehner just wanted to show that the majority Republicans don’t intend to play nice with a lame-duck president the next two years.

Netanyahu, a former ambassador to the United States who is at least as skillful at U.S. politics as Israeli politics, knew he was violating protocol and insulting President Barack Obama when he accepted Boehner’s invitation. An appearance March 3 before Congress gives the prime minister everything he wants: a giant stage two weeks before the Israeli Knesset elections to emphasize his credentials as the only Israeli politician tough enough to stand up to Iran and to be embraced by the ascendant GOP; a chance to undermine the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program; and an excuse to attend the AIPAC conference in person.

At the same time, Netanyahu figures he has nothing to lose: He and Obama disagree on every substantive issue in the U.S.-Israel relationship, appear to dislike each other personally, and will be done with each other forever by April (in the event Netanyahu loses March 17) or by Jan. 20, 2017.

We’re neither surprised nor disappointed Netanyahu used up every ounce of his diplomatic reserve during his years as an actual diplomat.

We are, however, disappointed in our president. He is facing the final two years of his political life with an opposition congressional majority after six years of partisan nastiness. He has a choice on how to spend those two years: securing a legacy as a statesman or taking final shots to get even.

As he did during the one memorable moment of his State of the Union address — “I know because I won both of them” — Obama is taking the low road with Netanyahu. The excuse of not meeting with a world leader so close to an election makes sense, except that Obama also avoided the Israeli during his visit for the U.N. General Assembly and, just maybe, let Netanyahu’s attendance at the Paris march after this month’s terrorist attacks play a part in his decision to embarrass the United States by staying home.

If, as Obama said in his address, every decision a nation makes reflects its values, it’s fair to say every decision a public official makes reflects his or her values. Across the board, the officials involved in the latest U.S.-Israel tiff reflect the values of a 2-year-old, incapable of considering any needs but his own and willing to hold his breath until he passes out to get what he wants.

They all need a timeout in the corner. ■

Desert Blooms at Own Pace

T

and forced JNF to prioritize crisis responses. A he first organizational meeting I attended worldwide recession undercut the financial means after joining the Atlanta Jewish Times for the extensive development in the plan. And in 2005 was a basement gathering of the the government has chosen to provide moral, Southeast board of the Jewish National Fund, financial and security support to settlers moving during which I learned about Blueprint Negev. eastward in preference to the push south.

The plan was both bold and beautiful: Repeat

Then there’s the issue of the Bedouin. history by settling people in a blooming desert, Depending on your but instead of doing so in perspective, Blueprint the middle of the counNegev involves destroytry, head for the Negev, EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK ing a centuries-old way which makes up 60 perof life or providing an cent of Israel’s land but

By Michael Jacobs escape from generations remains largely empty. mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com of subsistence life for the

From the comfort of desert dwellers. Unlike metro Atlanta, I could housing conflicts in the see only the positives.

West Bank, bulldozer battles in the Negev are not Here was a chance to relieve the price-raising about politics as much as about conflicting visions pressures on the housing market in Tel Aviv and of what’s best for the people involved.

Jerusalem while making better use of Israel’s

It’s wrong to force people to abandon a tradilimited real estate and recapturing that pioneertional way of life to embrace modernity, but it’s ing spirit. After all, as JNF emphasized, settling also wrong to condemn people to a miserable life the Negev was David Ben-Gurion’s dream. just to preserve their authenticity. One of the

Blueprint Negev figured to be just the start. many positives to some resolution to the IsraeliOnce the infrastructure — towns, transportation Palestinian conflict would be the shift in public to and around the desert, medical centers and attention to the Bedouin to ensure the protection services — and the first half-million people were of their interests. there, the Negev would surely keep attracting

In the end, Blueprint Negev will succeed bepeople and businesses and thrive. (I actually cited cause it has to: As Ben-Gurion realized, a nation a target of 250,000 new Negev residents back the size of New Jersey can’t waste an acre. The then; whether I made a mistake or the target has lesson from the slower-than-planned pace of the been far from fixed, I can’t say.) project is that timelines for such things exist for

That the blueprint has met only 20 percent of fundraising; the projects themselves occur at their its 10-year population target isn’t surprising. As detailed in contributor Dave Schechter’s article on own pace. After all, if Stalin couldn’t force the Soviet Union to meet his endless five-year plans, Pages 13 to 15, the project was audacious in the JNF and Israel can’t force Jews to move to the best of circumstances, and Israel hasn’t experidesert until they want to. enced the best of times the past decade.

All we can do is undertake the journey; only a

Wars in the north and south and relentless higher power knows when we’ll arrive. ■ rocket fire from Gaza have distracted the nation

OPINION

Spotlight on Film And Who I Am are raised, generation to generation, to think this way. The Atlanta Jewish Times is our voice, your voice; the AJT is an opportunity for us to share our voices. I hope we can entice you to join the chorus.

I want to conclude with a little bit

PUBLISHER’S LETTER

By Michael A. Morris michael@atljewishtimes.com

of information about myself. While I was born in the New Jersey, I have spent the better part of my life in Atlanta, beginning at Pace Academy as a junior when my family moved into town in 1978 (I think this makes me an honorary Atlantan). I have a bachelor of science from Vanderbilt (my degree, for sure, was in fraternity, AEPi); however, I ultimately returned to Atlanta, focused on education, and graduated from Emory’s Business School, cum laude, with an M.B.A. in finance.

I have worked on Wall Street, specifically in the World Trade Center, Building 5. I worked at Wolf Camera back in the day. I was involved in investment banking for years. And I am still a partner, with Renee Werbin, in travelgirl magazine, which is in its 10th year of publication.

The crowning jewel of my livelihood is helping to raise four amazing daughters. My oldest, Jacqueline, is a junior at Washington University in St. Louis. She is studying teaching, history, Jewish studies and more.

Alexandra is a sophomore at Colorado State University (in Fort Collins, not Boulder) and is studying zoology, her passion since high school, when she volunteered at Zoo Atlanta.

Lydia is a junior at Woodward Academy, but more important, she plays volleyball as a middle on the A5 17-1’s team.

Hannah is a freshman at the Weber School. She plays volleyball but is more passionate about her cross-social calendars between Weber, BBYO and Camp Barney.

These girls remind me each and every day why I work, how precious is family, and that our Jewish values are going from strength to strength.

My only concern is in which nursing home they will place me. ■

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

L

ights, camera, action! Atlanta’s highly anticipated Jewish Film Festival began this week with a big splash; no, over and above; no, “Above and Beyond.”

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is the second-largest Jewish film festival in the world, behind San Francisco’s, and ours began merely 15 years ago. This is an astounding accomplishment, and I thank Kenny Blank for his vision in achieving this feat.

Cookie Shapiro spearheaded AJC’s inaugural effort in 2000. That year, the AJFF screened films over a long weekend, and almost 2,000 people participated.

Kenny became the festival’s executive director 11 years ago. This year, the AJFF will run 23 days and show 65 films in 165 screenings, and it has already sold over 40,000 tickets.

Last year I attended five screenings. Highlights I remember might not be what you expect. First, the camaraderie in the line to enter the theater was great. I don’t like waiting in line, but when you are with 200 people and know 50, it changes from a line to schmoozing.

How often do you sit in a fully packed theater? Not often, but when we as Jews come together in a full house to learn and be entertained, it becomes spiritually uplifting.

Finally, I sat through two screenings that included moderated discussions afterward. We were all so enthralled with the movie we had just watched, I could count on my hands the number of people who left their seats before the discussion — combined. I think this had less to do with politeness than the caliber of the movies and the speakers.

See you at the movies this week!

I must continue to thank our new readers, subscribers and advertisers.

We grow because of you — growth in terms of better coverage of news, business, traditions, programs and lifecycle events and increased distribution within our community.

I also want to thank the people who are writing to me, whether or not you agree with something you have read in the paper.

I want the paper to share our community’s opinions. We have a diversified community with many opinions on all sides of almost every issue. We

AJT 11

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

OPINION

When ‘Religious Freedom’ Would Bury Human Rights

I

fact, there are very specific laws t’s not very often that matters on how to conduct an autopsy on a of halacha (Jewish law) become Jewish body while still observing the subject of daily proceedings the Judaic laws surrounding dignity, under the Gold Dome. In fact, aside including some instances in which from the kashrut certification battle one would be obligated to have an a few years ago, I can’t remember autopsy. If any other an autopsy instances. would save That is, unGUEST COLUMN other lives, til now. The

By Robbie Medwed such as in Jewish laws robbie@sojourngsd.org a case of a surroundrare disease ing autop(medical sies have research) or become a linking DNA to a murderer (precentral focus of lawmakers in recent venting other deaths), it is nearly weeks as House Bill 29, the poorly required by Judaic law. named “religious freedom” bill,

All of this, of course, should be winds its way through the Georgia the purview of someone’s rabbi and General Assembly. not the state. I imagine few people

According to traditional Jewish would disagree. law, the body of someone who has H.B. 29, sponsored by Rep. Sam died should be buried as soon as pos- Teasley (R-Marietta), would, among sible. In some cases it’s within a day other things, allow observant Jews or two, but it could happen within hours. When it’s not possible to bury to elect not to have an autopsy performed on a relative, and that seems the body so quickly, laws dealing like a great idea. In reality, though, with dignity come into play. For it’s not. some, these laws include a prohibi Protecting Judaic observance tion on disturbing the body in any surrounding burial is only one thing permanent way. This can (but does that a “religious freedom” bill does. not always) include a prohibition on Here are some of the others, and performing an autopsy. there are many more:

Autopsies are not universally • H.B. 29, as written, would allow prohibited in Judaism, though. In

Letters to the Editor Iran’s Southern Threat

I

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

heard Alberto Nisman’s presentation of the 1994 Iranianbacked bombing of the Argentine Jewish community center. For a long time now, I have never understood our government’s lack of concern over Iranians in South America learning Spanish and infiltrating our porous border to set up sleeper cells here for an inevitable France-like attack in the United States. A border guard staying at my Virginia Highland Bed and Breakfast told me they sometimes find Iranians dead in the desert with their Koran and their prayer rug.

Our government seems focused on Iraq, Syria, Cuba, Mexicans, drugs, but we are asleep at the wheel as far as I’m concerned. The biggest threat is in our sphere of influence, South America. Are we cowering 12 around Iran and fearful of offending

AJT

Muslims? I suspect so.

I urge our government and news outlets to publicize Nisman’s assassination and deal head-on with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard setting up camp in South America.

Adele Northrup, Atlanta

Give Obama a Break

I

was so excited to hear recently that the Atlanta Jewish Times had been sold again and that Michael Jacobs was back as editor.

I was so hopeful that Cliff Weiss’ vision might be continued. Then I saw the headline on Michael Morris’ column and read it.

One of your comments was that “our president has yet to define our enemies, galvanize his people.” I’m sorry: Are his people different from U.S. citizens? I don’t think so.

And I really dislike your statement that he is not acting in the best

corporations to claim a religious exemption from observing laws they do not agree with, such as nondiscrimination policies.

• H.B. 29 could allow an abusive parent to claim a religious exemption from child welfare and safety laws.

• Medical doctors and pharmacists could deny birth control prescriptions based on religious objection.

• A religious freedom bill would allow people to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, ignoring local nondiscrimination ordinances.

• Government agencies would be prohibited from disciplining an employee who breaks the rules.

A blanket religious freedom bill — even one that restricts action to government only, as H.B. 29 claims — is a very bad idea, and Georgia’s Jewish community is being used as a pawn to justify its passage.

Representatives are hoping that our support for our own issues — in this case, autopsy prohibitions — will cause us to push for a religious freedom bill so loudly that people won’t look into what the rest of the

bill could do and the damage it could bring.

So how do we ensure that Jews (and other religiously observant people) have their religious beliefs protected? Five states — California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Ohio — have passed “religious objection to autopsy” laws that provide a specific process for denying an autopsy, usually within a few hours with a simple form. These laws are simple and clear and provide a direct mechanism for protecting religious beliefs and government interests without trampling on the rights of others, as H.B. 29 would.

There is no basis in Jewish tradition for enacting a civil law that would protect our self-interests at the expense of someone else’s safety.

If Georgia’s lawmakers are truly intent on protecting Judaic or any other religious observance, and not on opening a back door to discrimination, they should push for a specific “religious objection to autopsy” bill and not a dangerous blanket bill like H.B. 29. ■

interests of our citizens. Truly, this smacks of the same attitude voiced

by Andy Adler, and frankly I have trouble understanding it. Obama is not perfect, but he is a huge improvement over what we had from 2001 to 2008. He was elected in 2008 to get us out of Iraq. We wouldn’t even still be in Afghanistan had Bush stayed the course in going after the terrorists who attacked us in 2001. But he got distracted, let his concentration on Afghanistan slip, and now it has taken years and years to get us out of both Iraq and Afghanistan.

I don’t recall any great demonstration of leadership by the president of France a few weeks ago. The major mistake made by the Obama administration was not going to Paris for the march. Despite that error, the president made many public statements condemning the terrorists and supporting the French people.

I truly believe that the only reason he doesn’t use “Islam” and “Muslim” every time he talks about ISIS or AlQaeda or whatever terrorist group is

to try to separate the religion from the zealots who use their religion as excuses for violence. Sadly, all a good many Americans hear is “Islamic” and not “radical,” making it necessary to try to mitigate the perception that these crazies are Muslim.

I won’t write off the AJT just yet, and you don’t have to agree with Obama on everything. However, he is our president and deserves to be treated with respect rather than having his every move questioned and dissected. I hope that now that you’re a de facto journalist, you will try to show more objectivity.

Jan Harris Rabinowitz, Atlanta

Robbie Medwed is the assistant director of SOJOURN: Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity.

Write to Us

We want to hear what you have to say. Send letters to the editor and possible guest columns to Editor Michael Jacobs at mjacobs@ atljewishtimes.com. Please include a phone number, email address and city of residence for confirmation.

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ISRAEL

JNF BLUEPRINT NOT YET IN FULL BLOOM WARS, OTHER PRIORITIES AND PERHAPS THE LIMITED LURE OF DESERT LIFE SLOW NEGEV PROJECT

I

f David Ben-Gurion were to hike through the Negev Desert today, he would be disappointed but also find reason to be encouraged.

It was the dream of Israel’s first prime minister, himself a Polish emigre, that Jews settle in the Negev.

“By the Negev, the Jewish people will be tested,” said Ben-Gurion, whose home away from government life was Kibbutz Sde Boker.

More than 66 years after independence, rather than a failing mark on that test, Ben-Gurion generously might deliver a grade of incomplete.

The lack of settlement in the Negev would disappoint him.

The Negev covers roughly 60 percent of Israel’s land mass, stretching from Be’er Sheva south to Eilat and bordered by Jordan on the east and Egypt on the west, but is home to

just 8 percent of Israel’s population.

Three-quarters of Negev dwellers are Jewish, the remainder primarily Bedouin.

Ben-Gurion “would be turning inside his grave,” said Ezra Ravins, a former mayor of the Central Arava Regional Council who is working in Atlanta as the shaliach (emissary) for the Jewish National Fund.

JNF has a plan to help BenGurion rest in peace: the $600 million Blueprint Negev project, which began in 2004 and was the focus of JNF fundraising in Atlanta and the Southeast by the fall of 2005. As recently as a December 2014 visit to Atlanta, JNF CEO Russell Robinson presented Blueprint Negev as part of the pitch for JNF donations the next decade.

But Blueprint Negev was envisioned as a 10-year plan to move

a half-million people to the southern desert.

Ten years in, the number is closer to 100,000.

Blueprint Negev centers on doubling the population of Be’er Sheva and creating more than 20 new towns throughout the desert.

JNF President Ronald Lauder has compared Israel’s drive to settle the Negev to the “manifest destiny” that spurred America’s movement westward in the 19th century.

Foreground: Greenhouses have helped the Arava become the predominant producer of peppers in Israel. Background: The Timna Valley is the legendary home of King Solomon’s copper mines.

(Photo by Marcy Levinson)

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

By Dave Schechter

AJT 13

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

ISRAEL

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

JNF BLUEPRINT NOT YET IN FULL BLOOM

AJT 14

An article a couple of years ago in The Tower, published by The Israel Project, referred to Blueprint Negev as “a recognition of the failure of the past, that the reality of Jewish settlement in the Negev has up until now been far from rosy.”

An estimated 70 percent of Israelis live in a triangle formed by Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem. Infrastructure improvements and lifestyle amenities are the lures JNF hopes will make the Negev attractive, particularly to younger Israelis, who find housing prices in the major urban areas beyond their means.

Another target audience is North American olim (immigrants), who might be interested in life as 21stcentury pioneers in a desert blooming with comfortable homes and recreational facilities. Think Scottsdale, Ariz., but in Hebrew. JNF partner Nefesh B’Nefesh’s Go South program offers North American and British olim such support as counseling and money to move to the Negev.

Nefesh B’Nefesh’s sample comparison of monthly living expenses for a family of five estimates a cost of 12,890 shekels ($3,223) for Be’er Sheva vs. 17,020 shekels ($4,255) in Jerusalem and 17,550 ($4,388) in Modi’in. Most of the savings come from housing.

Much of Blueprint Negev concentrates on Be’er Sheva, Israel’s seventh most populous city and second only to Jerusalem in land area.

Its urban plan foresees a population twice the current 197,000 residents.

Be’er Sheva has suffered economically (and by lifestyle comparison with Tel Aviv and Jerusalem), but today boasts of high-tech companies setting up shop, with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev as a draw.

If the Negev is to prosper, its largest city must be the engine.

If Be’er Sheva is the crown of Blueprint Negev, its crown jewel is Be’er Sheva River Park in the southern section of the city. When completed, the 1,700-acre site will be twice the size of Central Park in New York.

It will include 6 miles of walking and biking trails along the Be’er Sheva River, inspired by the popular Riverwalk in San Antonio.

JNF donations from Atlanta and the Southeast have supported construction of a section of the promenade.

The River Park project includes improving the water quality of the

river (a lake filled from recycled waste water is planned) and landscaping to create an attractive and usable urban space, even disguising water pipes to make them appear part of the park infrastructure.

Think of how the Beltline is transforming life in previously lessdesirable sections of Atlanta and you get the idea of the hopes for the River Park.

“The park was created in an area once described as the ‘armpit’ of the city — a dry riverbed near the south-

ern entrance of Beersheba that was piled with wrecked cars and odiferous trash accumulated over the decades.

Eventually, the new park will have Israel’s largest artificial lake,” the Jerusalem Report magazine says in its Jan. 26 issue in a profile of Be’er Sheva Mayor Ruvik Danilovich.

JNF touts new municipal infrastructure, renovated housing, cobblestone streets and even streetlamps as part of an effort to gussy up the old Turkish city.

One of the new public facilities is an outdoor amphitheater that seats 12,000 people. “Eat your heart out, Caesarea,” read a comment after a newspaper story.

At the dedication ceremony for the amphitheater, according to the Jerusalem Report, Danilovich said: “It sounds almost surreal that an organization based thousands of miles away managed to persuade the Israeli government to get involved in a project. The JNF saw the opportunity and the vision, and only then did the government come in.”

“I get very emotional about them.

The JNF came here in a period when the city wasn’t very attractive, with a negative image. No one looked in our direction. They came here, not only with a vision but with money and power,” Danilovich said.

Seven of the new communities elsewhere in the Negev have been built, a mix of towns designed to appeal to secular Jews, observant Jews, North Americans, residents of kibbutzim and moshavim, and one with strategic value south of Gaza near the Egyptian border. Each has unique recreational and cultural facilities. One town has

Top: In addition to its promise for agriculture and housing, the Negev is a power source through solar panels. (Photo by Marcy Levinson) Above: Tourists are drawn to David Ben-Gurion’s Negev grave, but settlers are more resistant to his lure.

(Photo by Marcy Levinson) Above left: Atlanta donations have helped JNF open an indoor playground that also serves as a bomb shelter in Sderot.

Left: Aside from the reclamation of the Be’er Sheva River itself, the jewel of JNF’s Be’er Sheva River Park is a 12,000-seat amphitheater.

become home to some of the Jewish families evacuated from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

Aside from questions about how desirable desert life will ever be for the residents of high-tech, startup nation Israel, the Gaza Strip evacuation points to a major obstacle to Blueprint Negev: the distractions and challenges from outside the region.

Blueprint Negev is “optimistic and realistic,” Ravins said, “but it depends on what the country goes through.”

Since JNF launched Blueprint Negev, Israel has fought one war along the northern border with Lebanon and had two major military operations in Gaza. Not only do such crises redirect resources and attention from long-term dreams like Negev settlement, but they also compel JNF to shift its focus.

For example, JNF helped replant 10,000 acres of forests and agricultural land burned by Hezbollah rockets during the 2006 war, and one of the nonprofit organization’s signature successes the past decade was the construction, with significant Atlanta support, of an indoor recreation area that doubles as a bomb shelter in Sderot, the town most vulnerable to rockets from Gaza.

Blueprint Negev work continues, though. It is investing in the existing “development” towns of Ofakim, Dimona, Yerucham and Arad, some of which have been economically distressed and used by the government to settle waves of immigrants.

JNF hopes to double the population of the Central Arava region, which covers more than 370,000 acres, approximately 6 percent of Israel’s land, but is home to just 3,300 people.

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JNF shaliach Ravins, who is 58, grew up in Jerusalem. After completing his army service at age 21, he moved to the Arava and began farming 35 years ago.

When 95 percent of Knesset members live in the metropolitan areas of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, it’s not hard to understand why the Negev has been overlooked, Ravins said. Harkening back to Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir, who lived her final years at Kibbutz Revivim, Ravins said: “Once we had leaders. Today we have politicians.”

Ravins would like to see the government subsidize and promote housing in the Negev as it does in the West Bank settlements. He is certain people then would move to a revitalized Negev.

Echoing Danilovich, Ravins said JNF “a lot of the time is the trigger” to push the Israeli government and “has the vision and has the understanding” to make it a strong partner.

His own Central Arava is challenged by extremes in topography, water scarcity, distances between towns and an aging population.

Ravins says the Arava needs better basic services, particularly in the areas of health care (a new clinic is being built), education and the needs of the elderly.

JNF notes that some 500 farming families (out of 830 families in the Central Arava) produce 60 percent of Israel’s vegetable exports, including 90 percent of the bell peppers, and 10 percent of its cut flower exports despite average yearly rainfall of 1 inch. Those conditions have helped make the Arava a hub for Israel’s solar power industry.

Blueprint Negev also supports the construction of dormitories and

classrooms at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura. Its graduate-level student body is a mix of Jews, Muslims and Christians among Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, North Americans and others. They live, study, eat and work together under the slogan “Nature Knows No Borders.”

Regional work funded by Blueprint Negev includes security roads near the Gaza Strip, water management systems and the continued purchase of needed firefighting equipment.

In addition, an Israel Defense Forces plan to move several military bases from the center of the country to the Negev is expected to bring not only more than 30,000 military personnel, but also families and jobs.

Meanwhile, Israel is eying housing development for the central Israel sites those bases will vacate.

Not everyone, however, welcomes Blueprint Negev. Critics accuse JNF of “greenwashing” and label its plans as the “Judaization” of land declared state property through false claims that lacked an owner.

(JNF’s Southeast office in Sandy Springs referred queries to the national JNF office in New York, which did not reply over a three-day period to written questions about Blueprint Negev, including the impact on the Negev Bedouin.)

“It’s essentially a long-term and escalated plan for forced resettlement of indigenous (or native) peoples who have lived and farmed and shepherded in these regions for centuries or more,” said Jesse Benjamin, an associate professor of sociology and coordinator of African and African diaspora studies at Kennesaw State

Inset: Bedouin girls study at a school in the Negev; the fate of the Bedouin remains one of the matters of debate in any project to settle the southern desert. Background: JNF’s Be’er Sheva River Park project has turned the area into a vibrant green space. (Inset photo by Marcy Levinson)

University. Benjamin was born in Israel and raised in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States before returning to Israel as a teenager and college student. He traces his activism to his introduction to the Negev Bedouin when he was 16.

“Worse, it’s also on the basis of race (mixed with religion, ethnicity, nationality, etc.), as Bedouin are removed from areas that are then resettled with subsidized Jewish immigrants, arriving from anywhere in the world. Bedouin are being forced off their land, and away from their ways of live and culture, even though few Jewish Israelis wish to live in these areas, even with subsidies, preferring instead the greater Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas,” Benjamin said.

Estimates vary, but the Bedouin population of the Negev is in the 200,000 range. More than half have relocated to seven governmentrecognized towns, the largest being Rahat with 54,000 inhabitants. Their advocates say that these officially recognized towns have only 2 percent as much land as the area where the Bedouin previously dwelled.

Meanwhile, an estimated 90,000 Negev Bedouin live in “unrecognized” villages — most in a triangle formed

by Be’er Sheva, Arad and Dimona — that do not receive basic services from the government, such as water, sewage and electricity. A government plan to relocate these Bedouin was scrapped, and debate over their fate continues.

JNF has planted 240 million trees, covering some 250,000 acres, throughout the country in the past century, but critics say that thou-

sands of trees have been uprooted to make room for Blueprint Negev development and that some JNF forests were located to displace Bedouin. In particular, they cite the Ambassador Forest, which would replace the Bedouin village of Al-Araqib. The government razed the village, only to see the Bedouin return dozens of times to rebuild after each demolition.

In the absence of a JNF response to questions submitted for this article, www.jnf.org offers this statement: “The needs of the Bedouin community and the changes that must come about are one of the original pillars of Blueprint Negev. … JNF is serious about addressing these challenges and is working with several Bedouin communities to effect change. Its leadership meets with regional councils to assess community needs and to develop solutions.”

Among several projects with the Bedouin, JNF notes its role in Project Wadi Attir, developing a cooperative and sustainable agriculture program with Bedouin in the town of Hura, in which sheep and goats are raised to provide organic meat and traditional plants that are used for medicine will be planted along indigenous vegetables. JNF also cites a project to clean the river and shoreline promenades in Rahat.

Ben-Gurion envisioned 5 million people living and working in the Negev. That figure may never be achieved, but JNF remains confident that through its investment and partnering with other private groups and the government, the Negev eventually will be regarded as much more than a desert. ■

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

ISRAEL

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www.atlantajewishtimes.com

HOLOCAUST

Remembrance Must Be More Than Symbolic

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JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

ewish history since Constantine declared Christianity to be the religion of Rome in the fourth century is almost synonymous with a lesson in martyrdom. It is a chronicle of tragedies and intolerance, of forced eviction from countries of residence, and of genocide.

This is not to say that Jews alone have experienced such tragedies. But no other people, to my knowledge, were forced to become a wandering people like the Jews, who on one hand were forced to move from most countries in which they resided, including their own, Israel, and on the other hand were not permitted to settle in other countries.

We the Jews, who provided the foundation for most of the world’s faiths, became abandoned and despised by those whose faith rose out of Judaism, and we were declared anti-G-d.

It is a curious phenomenon that Jews were punished for having the temerity to advocate the principles of justice and peace, the essentiality of a religion based on the necessity of humanism and human morality, became the subject for hostility and declared to be unjust and immoral and subject to genocide.

It is fitting and proper that we should not only remember the martyrdom of Jews, but also recognize their contribution to the development of an ethical and moral religion. All nations that accepted Jews to live in their midst have prospered economically and intellectually, but notwithstanding the benefits that Jews bestowed on their hosts, they were frequently forced to depart as though they themselves were the plague. Or, worse, as in the case of the Holocaust, they were subject to extermination.

The United Nations has set aside Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Memorial Day, a day that coincides 70 years ago with the liberation of Auschwitz, a city that became the symbolic representative of the murder of millions of Jews in concentration camps by those who followed a mentally deranged leader who desired world domination.

Let us also designate that day as a memorial day for Jews’ contributions to the world of culture, to the spirit of justice, and to a moral philosophy designed to advance human knowledge and the betterment of human life.

We have come to a point in 16

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history when most of the Holocaust witnesses are dying — this, of course, is a natural process. Shortly the world will be without witnesses to remind us of the inhumanity and atrocities with which the collective id can affect life.

We must continue to remember the Holocaust as man’s capability to revert to an archaic state, governed by

ONE MAN’S OPINION Eugen Schoenfeld

his base instinct of selfishness, leading to an abuse of power. The Holocaust should be a constant reminder, as the noted psychoanalyst Erich Fromm cautioned, that it is very easy to forget the principles of humanism, of justice and of freedom.

We must be careful lest we make the memory of the Holocaust, as we often do with other memorial days, an empty symbol, a trophy placed on the shelf to gather dust, brought down once a year for a meaningless ritual.

We must actively and sincerely remember the past if we wish to improve our future, especially if we wish to achieve a dream started by the sages and prophets of the same people whom Hitler sought to destroy. This dream is of universal peace, of a time when we turn our swords into plowshares and the use of guns will become merely a memory.

Human beings face enough challenges. We must solve problems of health and of adequate sustenance without adding problems caused by hatred and the creation of destructive forces like those experienced during the Holocaust.

We all seek a world of peace, a kind of world depicted in the legends of a messianic age. This can be achieved, in the words of Theodor Herzl, the great dreamer of a peaceful Israel, by keeping the image of our dreams in our mind. It can become a reality if we but adhere to the principles of freedom and justice and the elimination of pain.

As a Jew and a Holocaust survivor, I must caution the world: If we wish to continue to exist as humans, we first must learn to act humanely and follow the dreams set forth by Jonah, Micah and Isaiah. Their teaching clearly cautions us that for mankind to exist, we must adhere to the universal values of

peace and justice.

I would like to thank the hardworking staff of two agencies in Atlanta, the Georgia Commission on the

Holocaust and the Breman Museum, for their continued efforts to teach the lessons of the Holocaust. ■

Nuremberg Prosecutor: Law Is Better Than War

By David Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com

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t has been nearly 70 years since Benjamin Ferencz prosecuted a portion of the 185 defendants in the Nuremberg trials. On Jan. 25, he spoke at the Atlanta Jewish Academy as if it happened yesterday.

Speaking on the topic of “Justice and Response” to an over-capacity crowd of nearly 800, Ferencz relayed his message that law can help deter the illegal use of armed force.

“I am devoting the rest of my life to finally criminalize and hold personally accountable those responsible for the illegal use of armed force,” Ferencz said. “Self-defense is permissible. The United Nations charter prohibits other acts of armed force.”

Am Yisrael Chai’s 2015 Holocaust remembrance event commemorated the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Jan. 27 and featured Ferencz. The Hungarian-born lawyer served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was among the concentration camp liberators.

He is the last living chief prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials, held from 1946 to 1949. In his role as liberator and as prosecutor, he appears in the documentary “Night Will Fall,” showing Feb. 2 (tickets available) and Feb. 17 (sold out) at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.

Ferencz was 27 when he opened prosecution at the Nuremberg Einsatzgruppen trial in 1947.

“Benjamin Ferencz provides a unique and incredible opportunity for the Atlanta community to hear his perspective on the Nuremberg trials and the lessons learned from the Holocaust,” Am Yisrael Chai Atlanta’s presi-

dent, Andrea Videlefsky, said before the event.

The event was so well attended that 100 members of the crowd had to sit outside the auditorium to listen. Ferencz was introduced by son Don, who is also a lawyer. Together they created the Planethood Foundation, an organization that “advocates replacing the

TOP: Benjamin Ferencz, then a 27-year-old war veteran, makes his opening statement at the Nuremberg war-crimes trials in 1947.

Photo courtesy of Spring Films

ABOVE: The crowd lines up outside Atlanta Jewish Academy on Jan. 25 for the chance to hear Benjamin Ferencz.

Photo by David Cohen

law of force with the force of law.”

Am Yisrael Chai devotes its efforts to Holocaust awareness and education.

Ferencz closed his remarks with a poignant thought: “I think that if we are to pay tribute to the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust, we have to see to it that they didn’t die in vain.” ■

www.atlantajewishtimes.com

WORLD NEWS

Belgium Upside Down

Visiting leader calls for action to protect Jewish community

By Marcia Jaffe resh from his testimony before Congress, Joel Rubinfeld, the head of the Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism, flew to Atlanta to attend Am Yisrael Chai’s “Justice and Response” Holocaust remembrance event featuring Nuremberg prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz on Jan. 25 at Atlanta Jewish Academy.

Rubinfeld was introduced with other local and foreign dignitaries to show support for “lessons learned from the Holocaust.”

Here is a slice of our interview.

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Jaffe: What is the current population of Jews in Belgium? How is it changing?

Rubinfeld: There are 35,000 to 40,000 Jews out of 11 million total population, centered mostly in Brussels and Antwerp. In 2013, 279 Jews left Belgium [for Israel]; 10 years ago, that figure was 100. More recently, 500 Jews have left for the U.S., Canada and Israel. It is in the mind of every Jewish family, whether to stay or leave.

Jaffe: What is Jewish life like in Belgium today?

Rubinfeld: We have active synagogues and good Jewish schools.

Since the recent terrorist events, we are in a state of shock. Although we busted up horrific terrorist cells, some terrorists escaped. Schools closed for one day, then the following Monday opened again — heavily guarded, as are the synagogues.

Jaffe: Can you trust the government to protect you?

Rubinfeld: It’s too early to say.

Since May 2014 we have the new Socialist Party, who historically fought against anti-Semitism but have since abandoned this. They are the Trojan horse of contemporary anti-Semitism. They are prominent advocates of Hezbollah and Hamas and carry signs: “Death to Jews.” They are attempting to replace the individual Jew with the Jewish state. They are pouring oil into the fire. And not just the Socialist Party. For example, the Green Party, as never before, invited Hezbollah to speak (this is banned in Europe). Hezbollah brags about this on their website. Again, the Socialists used to fight anti-Semitism. Now they spread it. Belgium is walking on its head upside down.

Jaffe: Why now?

great costs (hundreds of thousands of lives) in the past: 1917, 1944, the Cold War. Today the battle can be done with zero deaths. We need action, not “blah, blah” speeches. What will Europe be like in 20 years with far-right Islamists?

Joel Rubinfeld, the president of the Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism

Rubinfeld: Demographics — 200,000 voting Muslims. Jews are easy prey because we are peaceful and few in number. Jews are the weakest link. Start with the Jews; end with the canary in the coal mine.

Jaffe: What was the nexus of your State Department testimony? What do you want the U.S. to do?

Rubinfeld: We don’t understand what America is thinking. An attack on Jews is the front line for an attack on democracy. We are all at a crossroads in cherishing democracy.

How we act now depends on the future. America bailed out Europe at

Jaffe: But be specific. What can we do? The U.S. is not in the mood to send troops to cover more fronts.

Rubinfeld: Convince Europe to make anti-Semitism a national cause. Zero tolerance! There is no such thing as a benign incident. Prosecute. Condemn. Be willing to curtail some types of free speech, like hatemongering on the Internet. Contain the silent exodus of Jews from Europe.

Jaffe: Who pays your salary?

Rubinfeld: No one. I work pro bono.

Gave up my advertising agency years ago. I work on a benevolent basis.

Rubinfeld closed by saying: “Keep your role as leader of the free world.

Right now we have a half-empty chair in this role. Replace the word ‘death to Jews’ to ‘death to democracy’ because that is what it is. He who steals the eggs steals the beef. The time is now.” ■

By Suzi Brozman hen the news broke that the bombing of the Jewish center in Buenos Aires had been solved but that the special prosecutor ready to present the evidence had been found dead, I turned to Congregation Or Hadash Rabbis Mario Karpuj and Analia Bortz, for whom the 1994 AMIA bombing was an important reason for their decision to leave Argentina.

“Argentina is a country with many problems, the most important being a lack of justice,” Rabbi Karpuj said. “You have a feeling that justice does not exist. It puts everything else in doubt. The guy investigating the AMIA had solved it … who, what, when, who organized it. We have no questions. He announced he had proved the president and foreign minister were involved.”

Rabbi Karpuj said it was known that Iran authorized the bombing

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and that the work involved Hezbollah. Investigator Alberto Nisman said he had evidence linking Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

“But,” the rabbi said, “Argentina is in desperate need of energy. Iran says, ‘No problem, we can give you oil if you help.’ ” Six hours before Nisman was to appear at hearing on the AMIA case, he was found dead in his home.

Even worse, Rabbi Karpuj said, the son of the man behind the bombing was killed eight hours before Nisman. “Hezbollah’s commander organized the bombing, decided who would be the suicide bomber. He was killed in Damascus on 2008. His son died just hours before Nisman, in Syria.”

Given Argentina’s political atmosphere, Rabbi Karpuj said the biggest question is why Nisman had to be killed. “It was not a secret that Nisman was going to accuse the govern-

ment officials. … There are hundreds of pages of public information. The killing didn’t stop the information.”

Rabbi Bortz said Nisman had told someone he expected to be killed.

The death sparked a protest march and a demonstration in front of the AMIA building, Rabbi Bortz said. “My mother is there right now.”

Why did the rabbis decide to leave their homeland?

“Twenty years ago, there was no political will,” Rabbi Karpuj said.

“You need political justice and the will to solve this kind of horrible crime, and there was no will to do it. Now the country will keep falling into this kind of thing. There is still no justice in the system. People don’t feel they can respect laws when nobody else is respecting them.”

Rabbi Bortz elaborated.

“It is a beautiful Zionist Jewish community with a long history,” she said. “It has been involved in the

general community. It isn’t fair. It is a big shock, but at the same time it doesn’t surprise us. We knew justice wasn’t going to happen. We were proven to be right.”

She said the Jewish community in Argentina, estimated at a quarter-million people, is active and public, such as renting out a building like Madison Square Garden for a community celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut. The country has Jewish community centers and day schools, Ashkenazi and Sephardi residents, and a range of Jewish congregations.

“But the atmosphere is disgusting, not just scary,” Rabbi Bortz said. “As a citizen, I don’t feel safe there. As a Jew, it doesn’t make a difference. It is unstable for everyone there.”

Rabbi Karpuj added: “For the Jews, it’s now particularly worse.

You see the attacks, and you see where things are going.” ■

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

‘Disgusting’ Atmosphere Drove Rabbis From Argentina

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www.atlantajewishtimes.com

EDUCATION

Jewish Campus Life Rife With Dangers

AEPi leader warns that no college is safe from anti-Semitism

By Michael Jacobs mjacobs@atljewishtimes.com he anti-Israel and anti-Jewish forces making life hard for Jewish students on many college campuses are always six months ahead of the organizations defending those students.

That was the message from Andy Borans, the international executive director of the last officially Jewish fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, during a recent appearance before about 100 people at a Hebrew Order of David event at Congregation B’nai Torah in Sandy Springs.

Borans, whose insight comes from the experiences of 10,000 undergraduates at 188 AEPi chapters in the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, France and Israel, said the enemies of Israel know they can’t defeat the Israeli military and can’t win a vote in Congress, so they’re going after a softer target.

“They’re trying to win the hearts and minds of our kids,” Borans said, and they’re creating doubts in college students’ minds.

“They’re making the Jewish kids feel nervous,” he said. “Ladies and

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gentlemen, that’s a dition; the important saster.” factor is whether Groups such as Stuthere’s an Arab students for Justice in Paldent who looks good, estine and the Muslim speaks well and is Students Association capable of being a are being increasingly rabble-rouser. aggressive not only in When such an agispreading their protator becomes active paganda, but also in on a campus, there’s silencing Jewish and typically trouble for pro-Israel voices, Botwo or three years, rans said. And the proBorans said. Then Palestinian aggression the agitator graduAEPi Executive Director has boiled over into acts ates or otherwise Andy Borans of anti-Semitism, such moves on, and peace as the painting of swastikas on the returns while organizations such as AEPi house at Emory in October, AEPi, Hillel, AIPAC and StandWiand violence, such as the assault on thUs brace for the next flare-up.

University of Arizona AEPi Presi- “We don’t know where it’s going dent Gideon Rafal by 20 men last to come up next time,” he said, so March that left him in intensive care Jewish organizations are always on for three weeks. defense. Plus, Jewish students aren’t No one has been charged in the trying to rabble-rouse; they’re just Emory case. going to school.

Borans said foreign money, most- Eric Eisner, the president of the ly from Saudi Arabia, is being used AEPi chapter at Georgia Tech, said to identify and support agitators on at the Hebrew Order of David event North American college campuses. It that the stories of anti-Semitism doesn’t matter whether the campus and violence at other campuses were has a large or small Jewish popula- shocking. He said Jewish student

life is good on the Midtown campus, where Israel has support and the student body president and homecoming king a couple of years ago was an AEPi who now is an Israel Defense Forces paratrooper, Eran Mordel.

“We feel comfortable,” Eisner said.

But Georgia Tech math professor Doron Lubinsky said the situation was bad seven or eight years ago until, as Borans described happening on other campuses, the instigator graduated. He echoed Borans in warning Tech students and potential students not to be complacent.

Borans said parents can’t lock up their children but can prepare them to handle confrontations and can arm them with answers to the statements coming from the pro-Palestinian groups. “Your job is to make sure your kids are pro-Israel and pro-Jewish.”

He advised students to walk around campus in groups, watch where they’re going and resist being provoked.

“Please tell your kids to be careful if they’re on campus,” Borans said. ■

Education Briefs

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

Alterman Puts on Epstein Show Jazz pianist and composer Joe Alterman, an Epstein School Hall of Fame member, visited the Sandy Springs school to speak to and per-

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is always there for you,” Alterman told the students. “It’s there to help you through hard times and to celebrate good times.

It won’t ever leave you, and one of the great things about it is that the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.”

He credited Epstein “for helping instill in me a great work ethic, a sense of self-worth and the notion that, with hard work, anything is possible.”

Led by band director Gale Scott, the students played “Mary Had a Little Lamb” for Alterman, who then Epstein School Concert Band members (from right) played it back in a variety of Gavin Brown, Ethan Berke, Yoni Baranan and Joeli styles.

Van de Grift perform for Joe Alterman.

Epstein is increasing Photo by Coleen Lou exposure to and programming in the arts because the arts form for fourth- and fifth-graders while enhance academic success. he was back in Atlanta from New York for a Jewish Educational Loan Fund Bigger Weber Language Lab

A grant-funded expansion of the Webenefit concert Jan. 24.

“Music is a lifelong best friend that ber School library has opened, enabling

the Jewish high school in Sandy Springs also to open a state-ofthe-art language lab.

The Carol and Robert Nemo Media Center now has an additional 3,000 square feet on the second floor, including two 75-inch display screens and a mobile whiteboard. The flexible space can accommodate 75 people.

The new language lab uses Renaissance 2200 Learning System technology. Teachers can arrange students wearing headphones into pairs or groups to practice speaking Spanish or Hebrew without distracting other students doing the same thing in other groups.

Happy Birthday, Ben The 309th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin’s birth was Jan. 17, and students, faculty and staff at Ben Franklin Academy in the Emory University area of DeKalb County celebrated with a birthday cake. Shown at the celebration are (from left) Oliver Kushner, Dean of Studies Martha Burdette, Stanley Cunningham, teacher Jan Bedol, Nick Vigilante, teacher Matt Wineski, Jackson Myers, Fallon Doherty, Happy Herold, and Director of Theatre and Film Pamela Turner.

Civil Rights Center Partners With Pace

Pace Academy faculty and staff visited the Center for Civil and Human Rights last month to kick off a multiyear partnership agreement.

The partnership will result in frequent, age-appropriate visits to the Center from the Buckhead private school and participation by Pace teachers in the center’s professional development programs.

Streetcar Named Success Modern Tribe hopes to cash in on tourists riding Atlanta rails

that’s really hip and cool,”

By David Cohen Roberts said. “We’re putdavid@atljewishtimes.com ting that on mugs, hats n the heart of a hisand T-shirts so that when toric Atlanta neighpeople come into the store, borhood is a shop imthey can bring a little bit mersed in 3,000 years of of that Southern Jewish tradition. culture back with them.”

Modern Tribe sells hip The store also sells kogifts and Judaica prodsher cotton candy from ucts to a new generation Cotton Cravings, an examof Jews less than a halfple of how Modern Tribe mile from the birthplace provides an outlet for local of Martin Luther King Jr. vendors and artisans.

The 7-month-old storeModern Tribe began in front at 171 Auburn Ave. 2007 on the strength of a sits right on the new AtChanukah game Roberts lanta streetcar line in a and her husband, Webb, revitalized district with invented, No Limit Texas the opportunity to attract Dreidel.

The Robertses trendy intown shoppers were disappointed with and tourists alike. the limited choices in

“There have been more Jewish holiday products people coming in since the and began creating their streetcar opened” in Deown. In the store and on cember, Modern Tribe its website, moderntribe. founder Jennie Rivlin com, products vary from Roberts said. “It’s only contemporary Havdalah been three weeks, and sets and Kiddush cups to right now it’s not retrendy Chanukah sweatally shopping season, ers and tank tops that say but there have definitely “Muscle Tov.” been more people coming The shop is directly into the store, which has across the street from the been promising. I’m really Piedmont and Auburn excited to see what hapAvenue streetcar station pens.”

Top: Modern Tribe sells and a block away from The Atlanta street- hip Jewish apparel and car’s 2.7-mile route con- accessories. Middle: A the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, which drew more nects the downtown hotel sign in front of the than 700,000 shoppers shop advertises “Fun district with some of the Gifts.”

Bottom: The last year. city’s most popular attracstore sits across the “It’s exciting,” Roberts tions. street from the Atlanta said of being in a largely The Georgia Aquaristreetcar line. non-Jewish area. “Nonum, World of Coca-Cola, Photos by David Cohen Jews come into the store Sweet Auburn Curb Marand connect with us for ket and King Historic Disa variety of reasons.

On trict are accessible via the rail line.

Rosh Hashanah we sold about half of Roberts hopes the resulting inour shofarim to non-Jews.” flux of visitors to the Sweet Auburn district will increase visitors to her The Atlanta streetcar, whose brick-and-mortar store. Most of her rides will be free until March, hopes to expand downtown tourism beyond business is online.

The business is embracing the the attractions around Centennial hoped-for flood of tourists with its Olympic Park. In the meantime, Robown brand of Southern Jewish sou- erts and her Modern Tribe staff are hopeful that the storefront will show venirs.

“We are creating a line of Sha- visitors to Atlanta a little bit about lom Y’all branded products right now what it means to be a Southern Jew. ■

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Business Briefs Registration Open for Cybersecurity Mission

Conexx: America Israel Business Connector, the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce are leading a business mission March 21 to 27 to connect Georgia businesses with Israel’s cybersecurity industry.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is scheduled to join the trip, which targets chief information security officers, chief information officers and chief technology officers.

The mission includes the two-day CyberTech International Conference & Exhibition in Tel Aviv, which brings together multinational corporations, startups, investors and industry experts. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to open the conference, although it does occur just a week after the Israeli Knesset elections.

The cost to participate in the mission is $3,600, which does not include airfare. Contact Conexx Chief Operating Officer Guy Tessler at gtessler@conexx.org or 678-274-9699 for more information. You can register at aiccse.chambermaster.com/events/details/georgia-cyber-security-mission-to-israel-271.

Conexx, the Israeli Consulate General to the Southeast and the Israeli Ministry of the Economy brought a cybersecurity expert to Atlanta in September to make connections with businesses in the area.

Avi Shavit, who heads cyber and homeland security research in Israel’s Office of the Chief Scientist, is part of a Netanyahu task force to make Israel one of the top five nations in the cyber field.

A Smoking Business Connection If the Georgia General Assembly moves down the path of legalizing some forms of marijuana for medical uses, Hebrew University of Jerusalem could be in a position to take advantage.

Hebrew University’s technology transfer company, Yissum Research Development, on Jan. 25 announced a licensing and collaboration agreement with an Australian startup, PhytoTech Medical, to develop, make and market new delivery systems to enhance the active ingredients in marijuana for medical uses.

The delivery systems are based on technologies by two Hebrew University medical faculty members, Abraham Domb and Amnon Hoffman.

“We are very pleased to collaborate with PhytoTech in developing the inventions of Professors Domb and Hoffman for the purpose of delivering the active components in cannabis,” Yissum CEO Yaacov Michlin said in a news release.

“Development of state-of-the-art delivery systems for the active ingredients will undoubtedly pave the way for a wider variety of clinical indications for these types of drugs.”

Microsoft, Technion Partner on Internet of Things

Microsoft’s research and development center in Israel and the Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology, launched an initiative Monday, Jan. 25, to develop software and systems for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Technion students are developing potential IoT innovations as part of their coursework, starting with a focus on Microsoft’s Azure cloud.

Student projects at the launch included a musical glove that plays particular sounds in response to particular colors, a sensor to use hand gestures to control a telephone while driving, and a smartphone application to guide the visually impaired.

Amazon to Buy Israeli Chip Developer Amazon has agreed to purchase Israeli chip developer Annapurna Labs for a price of about $350 million. The deal represents a significant push by Amazon into the Israeli technology scene.

Annapurna was founded four years ago by Avidor Willenz, a veteran of the semiconductor industry who founded Galileo Technologies.

Another Israeli R&D Center Teradata, the giant U.S. data analytics company, has bought Tel Aviv-based Appoxee, an Israeli startup aimed at publishers and developers that want to send out messages to increase user engagement in their apps.

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

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BUSINESS

An Easier Alternative to Colonoscopy?

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am fairly stoic about enduring others by supplying health tips that medical procedures, but drink- could make a difference in everyday ing the pre-colonoscopy oversalt- lives.

Eddie is best known for his fied, concentrated Gatorade-like goop in volumes is unpalatable. Of course nancial talks but always begins with I do it, but I spend the time cursing advice like “If you feel a heart attack that a 100-pound waif like me should coming, take an aspirin, do not lie not be drinking the same amount as a down, call 911, drink water, and wait at the front sumo wresdoor for the tler.

Gulp responders it down — to arrive. again. Stay JAFFE’S JEWISH JIVE “Also, you up all night. have the T h e n

By Marcia Jaffe right to see again, we a specialist hear horin the ER.” ror stories of people who are so adverse to the (You might have to wait a long time.)

A final Eddie-ism: “Most all medprocedure that they avoid it, which could come with dire consequences. icines last five years after expiration.

Advanced colon cancer is a bear no Aspirin is an exception. Change out one should have to deal with. A few your aspirin every 18 months to two years ago, a local middle-aged Jew- years.” ish woman succumbed to the disease Now Ed is excited to talk about for just this reason: She didn’t like the “newish” alternative (some say “not so fast”) to colonoscopy: Colothe idea of doing the procedure.

Enter my friend Ed Mendel, a guard. minority owner of the Falcons, who Founded in the mid-1990s by has a passion for wanting to help Stan Lapidus, the test is as simple as

LeVine says. “It may be mailing off a stool samthat for someone over 50 ple in a kit and waiting with a normal scope, the for the results. The cost Cologuard test would be is $599 and is covered meaningful in between,

by Medicare every three not waiting 10 years for years. the next colonoscopy.

This is what we Remember, there are know about it: 50,000 new cases of co• It can be used by folks lon cancer a year, and it ages 50 to 85 who are at takes years for polyps to average risk for colon develop into cancer.” cancer.

Dr. Steve Morris of • In tests, it found 92 Dr. Steve Morris still recomAtlanta Gastroenterolpercent of colon cancers mends colonoscopy over ogy is not sold on the and 42 percent of preCologuard. new test. cancerous tissues.

• It produced 13% false positives, re- “Colonoscopy is still the only test to screen, prevent, detect, treat and quiring further traditional tests.

Dr. Michael LeVine says that 30 cure significant colon lesions durmillion people over age 50 do not get ing one exam. The Cologuard cost a colonoscopy. “Either they are afraid is about the same as colonoscopy. of the pain, cost or prep work. For Cologuard missed almost 10 percent these people, Cologuard is a realis- of colon cancers and 60 percent of tic option. It is not a replacement for pre-malignant polyps. We are not uscolonoscopy, which remains the gold ing it, and if the patient qualifies, it should be done by their primary care standard.”

Aside from Medicare, various in- physician.” surance companies are working on Tell family and friends of this opguidelines for coverage of the test, tion. Important lives could be saved. ■

Why Positioning Matters

By Carol Niemi The Dunwoody Crier arly in my career I read a little book that changed everything for me. Originally published in 1981, it has gone through numerous editions and sold over 1 million copies, including 400,000 in China, and it’s still in print.

This powerful little book is “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind”

by Al Ries and Jack Trout. Its major premise is that to succeed in the marketplace, you must claim space in the minds of your customers and prospects by telling them what you can do for them better than anybody else can.

We call this mind space positioning, and it should guide everything your company does.

One of the greatest examples of positioning is the famous Avis campaign. In the early days of rental cars, Avis was a distant second to Hertz and losing ground. In 1962, its ad agency, Doyle Dane Bernbach, decided to use Avis’ second-place status as a way to tout its customer service.

The first ads said, “When you’re only No. 2, you try harder. Or else.”

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The company used that positioning and tagline for the next 50 years.

It worked because it promised customers what they wanted most — superior customer service — and the company delivered.

You can probably think of many more recent examples of brilliant positioning. The keys are that the positioning be demonstrably true and that the company stick with it long enough for it to become the brand itself.

A great local example of a business with the courage to stick to its positioning is marketing communications firm Kleber & Associates (kleberandassociates.com). Founded in 1987 by Jewish community member Steve Kleber, the agency has maintained its focus on the building products industry, representing companies that sell products and services to builders, since its founding. Its operating mantra is “Building better brands that build a better home since 1987.”

“Our country has one thing to offer: dirt from sea to shining sea,” Kleber said, “and the government will always incent people to develop that land with tax-favorable financing.”

pertise in building prod Kleber always beucts, Kleber was able to lieved his model to be offer an array of tradisustainable. tional and online market “When single-familying services unrivaled by home building stops,” he many larger agencies. said, “multifamily takes

“In the middle of over.” a recession, we turned But when the real down profitable accounts estate market imploded that didn’t fit our posiin 2009, builders stopped tioning,” he said. “It was building. Even remodelan almost unbearable ing stopped because of Steve Kleber form of discipline.” declining home values

But his strategy and foreclosures.

As a result, customers were worked, and Kleber & Associates won scarce for the products and services two building products accounts from Kleber’s clients were selling. Some leaders in their categories: Masonite of his smaller clients didn’t survive. Doors and the Gypsum Division of Friends and associates advised him Georgia-Pacific. to abandon his positioning and be- To other businesses struggling come a generalist agency that would with positioning, Kleber offered the following advice: “Stay the course serve any client.

Kleber decided instead to re- and fine-tune your business model commit to his positioning and fine- to capitalize on the equity you’ve cretune his model by embracing such ated for your brand.” nontraditional marketing tactics as He added: “I grew up here and analytics, marketing automation for love living and working here.” ■ customer relationship management, Carol Niemi is an award-winning content marketing and social media.

By adopting these tactics before creative director who works with many of his competitors did and com- growing companies to define and bining them with his company’s ex- build their brand.

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ONGOING

SUNDAY, FEB. 8

Through Feb. 22. The comedy play “Bad Jews” runs Wednesdays through Sundays at Actor’s Express, 887 W. Marietta St., Suite J-107, Atlanta. Tickets are $26 to $46; actorsexpress.com or 404-607-7469.

Kehilla Fest. The Kehilla in Sandy Springs joins with the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival to celebrate five years with Rabbi Karmi Ingber through a show at 7 p.m. featuring the Moshav Band at the Atlanta Jewish Academy auditorium, 5200 Northland Drive,

Through Feb. 23. The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival offers 65 films at half a dozen locations. Most tickets are $13 for shows after 4 p.m. and $9 for earlier shows; ajff.org or 866-2142072.

Through March 31. EthiopianIsraeli artist Hirut Yosef presents “Chalom Yashan — A Journey Back Home” at the Marcus JCC’s Katz Family Mainstreet Gallery, 5324 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. An artist’s reception will be held Sunday, Feb. 8, at 4 p.m. Admission is free; www. atlantajcc.org or 678-812-4071.

SUNDAY, FEB. 1 Try getting fit. The fitness center at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, holds a weeklong open house from 5:45 a.m. to 7 p.m. to show off its renovations and provide free samples of classes; www. atlantajcc.org/specialtyclasses, fitness@atlantajcc.org or 678-812-4060.

Critical thinking in day schools.

Rabbi Michael Berger, an associate professor of religion at Emory University who was head of school at Atlanta Jewish Academy Upper School predecessor Yeshiva Atlanta, continues AJA’s Community Speakers series at 10 a.m. with a discussion of Jewish day schools’ ability to teach critical thinking skills while inspiring a love for and commitment to the Jewish faith, tradition and people.

Free at AJA’s Sandy Springs campus, 5200 Northland Drive; 770-4515299, ext. 204, or jovadia@atljewishacademy.org.

TUESDAY, FEB. 3 Trip of a lifetime. Registration opens for free 10-day summer trips to Israel through Taglit-Birthright Israel, although previous applicants who haven’t made a Birthright trip and still qualify may apply a day earlier; www.birthrightisrael.com.

SATURDAY, FEB. 7 Chabad of Cobb celebrates 15 Years. Chabad’s celebration honors Lenny and Nina Beck, Barry Frankel, and Liz Helgesen with dinner, an open bar, auctions and live music at 8 p.m. at Chabad of Cobb, 4450 Lower Roswell Road, East Cobb.

Tickets are $84; www.chabadofcobb. com/dinner2015.

rounding areas. Scouts and Scouters (adult volunteers) attending this service in uniform receive a special patch; ritual@mynertamid.org or 678-264-8575.

TUESDAY, FEB. 17 Budget basics. Jewish Interest Free Loan of Atlanta and Private Bank of

The Marcus JCC invites the community to celebrate Tu B’Shevat with TreeMan, a walking, living tree, at a free program featuring songs with Rabbi Brian Glusman, activities, crafts, tasting of fruits and nuts associated with Israel, and lessons about the environment. The program at Zaban Park, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, is sponsored

by Club J, the Weinstein School and the Jewish National Fund. Contact Rabbi Glusman at 678-812-4161 or brian.glusman@atlantajcc.org for more information; register at www.atlantajcc.org/pldb-live/26013.

Sandy Springs. Tickets are $36; thekehilla.org/kehillafest.

Arts for JF&CS’ sake. Jewish Family & Career Services holds its Artscape family fun day to benefit its Counseling Services — Tools for Life division at 3:30 p.m. at Sensations Therafun, 1704 Chantilly Drive, Atlanta. Tickets are $50 per family in advance or $65 at the door or $136 for patron families (admission an hour early); www.ArtscapeATL.org.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11 Lord Jonathan Sacks in town.

Britain’s former chief rabbi speaks at 7:30 p.m. at Young Israel of Toco Hills, 2056 LaVista Road. The event is free, but registration is required; www.yith.org or 404-315-1417.

THURSDAY, FEB. 12 SOJOURN discussion. Parents and other family members of LGBTQ-identified children of any age are invited to join the Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity at 7 p.m. in Dunwoody for the regular meeting of the parent discussion group, which is not a support group but a chance to create meaningful relationships; sojourngsd.org/calendar.

FRIDAY, FEB. 13 Scout Shabbat at Ner Tamid. Services at 7 p.m. celebrate Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts from Congregation Ner Tamid in West Cobb and sur-

Buckhead holds a free “Budgeting 101” seminar at 6:30 p.m., starting with kosher refreshments, at the bank, 3565 Piedmont Road, Building 3, Suite 210, Buckhead. RSVP to Edie Barr at embarr1@bellsouth.net or 404-325-0340.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18 Italian cooking. Women can taste and learn to make Italian kosher cuisine from Tal Baum at 7:30 p.m.

Chabad of Cobb, 4450 Lower Roswell Road, East Cobb. Cost is $15; www. chabadofcobb.com or 770-565-4412, ext. 300.

FRIDAY, FEB. 20 Disability awareness Shabbat.

Eric Jacobson, the executive director of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, discusses “Creating a Welcoming Community for All” during Jewish Disability Awareness Shabbat at Temple Kehillat Chaim, 1145 Green St., Roswell, at 7:30 p.m.; tkcrabbi@gmail.com, 770-641-8630 or www.kehillatchaim.org.

SATURDAY, FEB. 21 Bet on the IDF. Friends of the Israel Defense Forces holds its youngleadership casino night at 8:30 at the Westside Cultural Arts Center, 760 10th St., Midtown Atlanta. Tickets are $50 in advance, $70 at the door; 678-250-9027, Jamie.perry@fidf.org or www.fidf.org/Southeast.

SUNDAY, FEB. 22 Kicking for autism. The teen-run nonprofit group offers free soccer clinics from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. for children ages 7 to 14 who have highfunctioning autism or Asperger’s at the Norcross Soccer Academy, 4541 S. Berkeley Lake Road. Pizza, water, snacks and other supplies are provided; kickingforautism@gmail.com.

AJA grad brings “Son” home.

Atlanta Jewish Academy graduate David I. Stern attends the 2 p.m. opening performance of AJA’s winter musical, “Disney’s My Son Pinocchio Jr.,” which he wrote, for a post-show discussion. Additional performances will be Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 4 p.m. and Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m., all at the AJA auditorium, 5200 Northland Drive, Sandy Springs; www. showtix4u.com for tickets and tcarmona@atljewishacademy.org or 404843-9900 for information.

MONDAY, FEB. 23 Anita Diamant book discussion.

“The Red Tent” author talks about her latest novel, “The Boston Girl,” about growing up Jewish in the early 20th century, at 7:30 p.m. at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. Tickets are $10 for center members, $15 for nonmembers; www.atlantajcc.org or 678-812-4002.

TUESDAY, FEB. 24 Flying, playing and speaking for Israel. Noam Gershony, an Israeli helicopter pilot who overcame war injuries to win a tennis gold medal at the 2012 London Paralympics, speaks at Ahavath Achim Synagogue, 600 Peachtree Battle Ave., Buckhead, at 7 p.m. in a free event co-sponsored by Friends of the Israel Defense Forces.

Advanced registration is required for security purposes; fidf.org/Atlanta_ ATLGershony or 678-250-9027.

THURSDAY, FEB. 26 Theatrical magic. Jerry’s Habima Theatre, featuring special-needs actors, presents “Disney’s Aladdin Jr.” at the Marcus JCC, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody, in seven performances through March 8. Tickets are $25 ($10 for children 12 and under) for center members and $35 ($15 for children) for nonmembers; 678-8124002 or www.atlantajcc.org/boxoffice.

Send all your items for the What’s Happening calendar to submissions@atljewishtimes.com.

Good photos will increase the chance for your item to be highlighted.

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ARTS

Like Father, Unlike Daughter

Bernie and Maggie Schein write very different works of fiction

By Kevin Madigan he two recent books by former Atlanta residents Bernie Schein and his daughter, Maggie, could not be more different.

Maggie Schein’s “Lost Cantos of the Ouroboros Caves” is a collection of mystical fables that author Pat Conroy describes in the book’s foreword as an “oddball, perverse work of genius.” Conroy, is editor-at-large for the University of South Carolina’s Story River Books, which specializes in regional, fiction.

“Famous All Over Town,” her father’s first novel, is a raucous account of the inhabitants’ messy lives in the fictional Southern burg of Somerset, standing in for Beaufort, S.C., where father and daughter now live.

“The town is a central character,” Bernie Schein said during a telephone interview. “Gays, straights, whores, politicians, journalists, the mayor, whatever. What you had there was a confluence of race, religion, lost culture, a few Catholics and Jews, some hybrids, and of course the Marines.”

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A Marine is one of the first characters we meet, the unstable Sgt. Jack McGowan, who leads his platoon of young recruits into a creek, whereupon some perish. The story is based on a real incident in 1956 on Parris Island, S.C. “It was a national scandal. It entirely changed basic training for recruits forever,” Bernie said. “I’m re-creating a world, but that world was there. I would say it’s probably an autobiographical novel, certainly inspired by real stuff.”

Conroy himself makes a cameo in the story, and Bernie likewise has shown up in some of Conroy’s books.

“He’s a tough critic. Pretty picky,” Bernie said of Conroy, adding that he has become a better writer through his association with Conroy.

Maggie, an Atlanta native, said her father, “a bit of a firecracker,” has taught her a lot about trusting herself when writing. “We’re extremely different writers. He’s allowed me to be myself.”

The two lived in Atlanta for many years while Bernie taught writing,

literature, drama and social studies at the Paideia School, an experience he recounted in his previous book, “If Holden Caulfield Were in My Classroom.”

Despite the presence of humor, his new novel tackles hard issues such as child abuse, incest, Bernie Schein personality disorders and racial inequality. While he was growing up in the 1950s, Bernie said, “race was always a big deal because, in the Bible Belt, a black guy stepped off the curb to let a white guy walk by.”

As a young Jew, Bernie felt he was an anomaly. “I was a popular kid, was well liked, class clown, I was really funny,” he said. “But things were not really discussed directly; nobody talked about Jewishness.”

Maggie’s book, which Bernie calls

Maggie Schein

“radiant,” is being reissued as a limited edition with a CD of stories narrated by singer Janis Ian. “I’m superexcited,” she said. “What’s cool is that it comes with physical CDs.” Her inspiration comes from classics such as “The Little Prince” and “The Old Man and the Sea.” As an undergraduate, she referred to herself as a “Nietzsche head.” “I’ve read everything he’s written that’s been translated into English. I read as medicine. For me, books are like an apothecary.” ■

‘Selma’ and the Jews

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JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

jews), I was keenly aware of some n Monday, Jan. 19, Martin of the criticism given to “Selma.”

Luther King Jr. Day, I invitThe criticism specified in Heschel’s ed my ninth-grade students column seems to focus on a few key to join me as we watched “Selma,” points. In the first paragraph, Hethe recent movie directed by Oprah schel writes, “Regrettably, the film Winfrey. represents the march as many see it My ninth-grade curriculum fotoday, only cuses on the as an act history of of political Reform Judaprotest.” ism, specifiGUEST COLUMN

Yes, it is cally focusing true: The on growing

By Rabbi Erin Boxt film does up as a Jew focus on in the South. the politics Before our of the civil rights movement. Howtrip to Selma, Ala., in March, we ever, there is also a special focus on will be spending some time at The Dr. King’s invitation to clergy naTemple on Peachtree Street to learn tionwide to join him in Selma. The about and discuss the role the Atlanmovie’s emphasis on this invitation ta Jewish community played in the is significant. civil rights movement. Of course, I As a matter of fact, the brutal believed the release of “Selma” to be murder of one of these ministers hapa great introduction for my students. pens to be one of the most difficult Having recently read the Jewand tense scenes in the entire movie. ish Telegraphic Agency column In my opinion, the most spiritually “What Selma Means to the Jews” uplifting scene in the movie occurs

by Dr. Susannah Heschel (www.jta. when Dr. King kneels down to pray, org/2015/01/18/news-opinion/opin22 ion/op-ed-what-selma-meant-to-the- then turns around and walks the

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other direction, back from where he came.

As a rabbi, I have always appreciated Dr. King’s comparison of the march from Selma to the exodus of the Jews out of Egypt.

Heschel writes about this as well in her column: “Not only were the Israelites leaving Egypt, the place of enslavement, but also the Egyptians, because there was a hope at Selma that white America was repudiating its racism.”

It is true that we still have a long way to go in this country in order to finish the “exodus from Selma.” However, the march was a great step and a foundational moment in our history. This cannot be ignored, just as any first step in achieving the prophetic vision of total justice for all peoples.

The most significant criticism of “Selma” is that there is not more of a focus on the relationship between Dr. King and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Susannah Heschel’s father.

Dr. King and Rabbi Heschel had a very special relationship. The famous picture of Rabbi Heschel

walking alongside Dr. King, Ralph Bunche, Rep. John Lewis, the Rev. Fred Shuttleworth and the Rev. C.T. Vivian is one of the best-known artifacts from the civil rights period.

While the picture represents a future filled with hope, one in which justice can be achieved, the focus of “Selma” is on the struggle of African-Americans and the eventual outcome.

As a rabbi in the South, I understand completely the significance of the shared history of blacks and Jews.

When I walked out of the movie theater, I was not upset or frustrated that there was not more of a focus on the Jewish community and our role. I was not upset that a particular person or group was not included. I was inspired, not only by the actors and the roles they played, but also by the message from 50 years ago that still applies today.

“Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:21-24). ■ Erin Boxt is one of two rabbis serving Temple Kol Emeth in East Cobb.

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ARTS

‘Bad Jews,’ Good Theater

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hen I heard that Actor’s Express was presenting a play titled “Bad Jews,” dozens of thoughts flashed through my mind, including a list of people I know who could fall into that category. When I was told it was a comedy, all I could think of was Groucho Marx’s joke that he’d never want to be part of a group that would have him. So it was with great trepidation and a lot of curiosity that I set out for the theater.

One thing became immediately clear: This is not a comedy, or at least not just a comedy. How can one laugh at the death of a beloved grandfather, Poppy, a survivor of the Holocaust?

But I was wrong. The audience wasn’t expected to laugh at death, but at the multiplicity of Jewish traits exhibited by the mourners, the attitudes held by each of them and each of us, and the way stress highlights our feelings and behaviors.

First the cast — only four players, but the ghosts of many buzz around their lines, their ideas, their expectations. The action takes place in Jonah’s apartment, a river-view studio his parents bought him. So we have our first cliché: rich, spoiled Jewish kid. Except he isn’t. He’s a peacemaker, wanting everyone to get along. He’s beautifully portrayed by Louis Gregory.

Then there’s his older brother, Liam, played by Wyatt Fenner, who portrays the self-hating Jew — Christmas tree, Christian girlfriend and all. But isn’t there always more?

We see his conflicted actions, his anger, his uncertainty, and we know, just know, there’d be a lot to know if we only had time, not just the 90 minutes allocated for the play. Temper and single-mindedness.

The female protagonist, Daphna, is interpreted lovingly by Suzi Bass Award winner Galen Crawley.

You know her, maybe you were her: smart, very smart, committed to her Jewishness (the only one in the group who is), so much so that she wears it (excuse the expression) like a cross on her sleeve. She is in the process of discovering herself, and she’s happy — no, determined — to let everyone know what she knows and how she knows she’s right.

And there’s Melody, poor inno-

cent Melody, who has gotten involved by falling in love with Wyatt, who wants to marry her, wants to propose to her, not with the standard flashy diamond ring, but with his newly dead grandfather’s chai medallion, which Poppy cherished throughout the death camps and with which he proposed decades ago to Grandma.

Poor, perfectly coifed blond Melody, beautifully acted by Rachel DeJulio.

Where’s the rub?

Daphna thinks she deserves the chai, because she see herself as the only one in the family keeping Judaism alive and active. Wyatt has it, and that’s nine-tenths of the law.

Jonah wants them to stop fighting, which they continue with a cruel and nasty vengeance. And Melody, well, she wants to be engaged.

Why bad Jews? They aren’t observant and don’t necessarily believe in Judaism, in Israel, in family or perhaps even in God. But no worse than those who marched through my head, I can promise you that.

The acting is by turns heartwarming, heart-wrenching, frightening, but never boring. The story has

Louis Gregory as Jonah and Galen Crawley as Daphna form half the cast of “Bad Jews.”

Photo courtesy of Actor’s Express

a few things I’d argue with, but not enough to make me want to leave.

Freddie Ashley does his usual precise, elegant job of directing. And you should do your usual thing of getting tickets as soon as possible before you miss this elegant, thought-provoking, slice-of-life production. ■

What: “Bad Jews” Where: Actor’s Express, King Plow Arts Center, 887 W. Marietta St., Atlanta When: Through Feb. 22 Tickets: $26 to $45; actors-express. com or 404-607-7469

Role Fits Roswell Cantor’s Son quite like New York, but Gregory found the “Bad Jews” script very workable.

“This e grew up was natural, the Jewish, way people talk. the son of Because of that, a cantor (Barbara people can relate to Margulis of Temple it.”

Kehillat Chaim), so But do they rewhen Louis Greglate? “Oh, yes, posiory says he knows tively. One thing about his religion, theatergoers talk he’s not kidding. about is Daphna.

“It helped me Some of what she relate to the charsays isn’t right, but acter and the situthat’s the point. ation,” Gregory She’s a 22-year-old said. “All of Dad’s girl finding herself family were killed — you get things in Europe, except wrong, you’re headthose already in strong. People are the States before World War I. Louis Gregory, who grew up in Roswell, saying they know Mom’s family had plays the peacemaker brother, Jonah, in each of these char“Bad Jews.” Photo courtesy of Actor’s Express acters, telling how a department store they relate to it in Germany. It was ruined on Kristallnacht. They moved because they know people just like to Cuba, then to Georgia, so my fam- them.” ily history made it easier to connect.” Gregory said that when he read Growing up in Roswell was not the script, he saw the show as a

By Suzi Brozman

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drama with comedic moments, but in rehearsal the cast found the audience laughing at the comedy. That produced a new element. “Some of that laughter comes out of the tension, awkward moments. I’ve always found it difficult to call something comedy or drama; there’s always both aspects.”

His interpretation of the play: “All the bickering, selfishness — the fact that they’re letting that take over when it’s to be a time of family and grieving — they’re losing the whole point. Liam likes being the bad Jew, making a statement. On the other hand, Daphna is the super Jew, a thing Jewish people say. It raises the question: What does it mean to be a bad Jew? Eating a cheeseburger, going by what other people say, what makes a Jew a real Jew is what it’s asking.”

Gregory’s real life is far from dull.

He interprets Spanish at a health clinic, works at a French bistro and teaches medical students how to perform physicals, all in between acting. ■ 23 JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

By Suzi Brozman

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ARTS

Festival H Films: Games People Play From ‘Dough’ to ‘Warriors,’ comedy works best as break from reality

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s the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival rolls into multiple theaters after opening night Jan. 28, the Atlanta Jewish Times offers more brief reviews here and online. Visit ajff.org for tickets and details on guest speakers with screenings.

2 MEN WHO KNEAD EACH OTHER ow can a Muslim youth save an old Jewish bakery? More important, how can he save an old Jewish baker?

John Goldschmidt’s direction of “Dough” brings us into the lives of Shaun and his mother, who are struggling to in England after fleeing Darfur.

His life seems to be going nowhere fast with no prospects in sight.

A subplot involving an evil developer hastens the decline of the old Jewish bakery. It also helps complete the connection between Nat, the Jewish baker portrayed by Jonathan Pryce, and Malachi Kirby’s Shaun.

Both men have suffered as they have viewed their families falling apart through the fault of others. Shaun’s father was left behind in Darfur when he and his mother had to flee. Nat believes that his own son abandoned him and the family bakery.

It takes Shaun’s ill-fated foray into drug dealing and some cannabis ending up in the bakery’s dough to keep the film lighthearted and to move it to a conclusion as the Jewish baker and his new apprentice try to save the bakery and their relationships with family. (“Dough” is showing Jan. 31 through Feb. 17, but all five screenings are sold out.)

— Bob Pepalis

A FEW LOOSE SCREWS he original title of “Self Made” was “Boreg,” which means screw.

While the obvious meaning relates to the Ikea-like furniture company that links an Israeli conceptual artist with a Palestinian woman who

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Times are tough for Nat (Jonathan Pryce) and Shaun (Malachi Kirby) in their English bakery in “Dough.”

one calls her by it.

A trip to the gallery hosting her artwork causes Michal almost as much distress as the missing screw from the bed she ordered after hers broke.

Samira Saraya’s Nadine is a young Palestinian woman who trudges through her life, getting stuck at a border checkpoint each day she goes to work. Nadine is so disassociated from reality that she has to drop a trail of screws on the path to the furniture company — where Michal ordered her bed — so that she can find her way back home when the workday ends.

Neither woman is happy with her lot in life. So when a guard at the border checkpoint mixes up their identities, they both go along with the change.

What should be shocking is how no one seems to notice the change, though the two women look nothing alike. Both women seem to find meaning in their lives, but not necessarily in a way you’d expect.

(“Self Made” is showing Jan. 31 at Regal Atlantic Station, Feb. 7 and 10 at Lefont Sandy Springs, and Feb. 12 at UA Tara; tickets remain for all screenings.)

— Bob Pepalis HEARTS OF DARKNESS ight Will Fall” is almost the ultimate Holocaust documentary without actually being about the Holocaust. Instead, this devastating film is the story of the ultimate Holocaust documentary and how it took almost 70 years to complete despite the involvement of such luminaries as Alfred Hitchcock.

That documentary, with the blandly British title “German Concentration Camps Factual Survey,” was a British production under the guidance of Sidney Bernstein with extensive American contributions. Men in London

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Nadine (Samira Saraya) loses herself to deal with the daily checkpoints in “Self Made.”

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worked at the factory, it could also relate to how they feel about their respective lives.

Sarah Adler portrays Michal, a conceptual artist who for most of the film seems lost within her own life. The film opens with a bang, and this event could be the reason she doesn’t seem to remember her own name until some-

processed the devastating footage from freshly liberated Nazi death camps as the Allied armies advanced.

“Night Will Fall” shares that devastation in airing hard-to-stomach scenes from the likes of Bergen-Belsen and Dachau (a particularly horrifying moment shows Dachau footage in negative, the way the editors in London would have first seen it).

It’s easy to see why Bernstein felt it was so important to complete his documentary, and it’s hard to accept the reasons that the Americans eventually pulled out of the project, leaving it to Britain’s Imperial War Museums to finish the film almost 70 years later.

We see only glimpses of the final film, but in some ways the story of that film, chock-full of horrifying footage, tells us even more about how the machinations of governments can grind away individuals and develop into mindless villainy.

(Tickets remain for the Feb. 2 screening at Regal Atlantic Station; the Feb. 17 showing at UA Tara is sold out.)

— Michael Jacobs OUT WITH A COMMUNIST BANG can count on one finger the number of stories I’ve seen on film about Jewish life in Communist Romania, and that’s appropriate: The Jewish characters in “Closer to the Moon” are figuratively flipping one big finger at the Communist authorities throughout this comedic drama (or dark comedy) based on a true story.

Five Jewish friends from the Romanian Resistance in World War II, having helped bring in the Communists after the defeat of Nazis, find that the Romania of Stalinist purges has no place for them by 1959. Amid the space race launched by Sputnik, they look to the West for their inspiration and not

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league in Israel, the Kraft Family Israel Football League, sponsored by Patriots owner Bob Kraft (no word on whether Tom Brady used fully inflated footballs while visiting Israel with owner).

This documentary works best away from the football field. We see sports as a tool for opening minds through the players of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa team, which mixes Jews and Arabs. We gain insight into the settler mentality through the Judean Rebels, who talk about football unleashing the Jewish warrior spirit.

The closer we get to the fields — a mix of poorly lighted, no-goalpost soccer fields and a dedicated, Kraftfinanced field that’s only 60 yards long — the less interesting the movie.

Too much of the film follows the course of the 2011 season and playoffs.

The film fails to create a compelling narrative to make us care who wins a 3-year-old championship.

That said, it’s a long time until training camps open in July, and if you crave football action, any football action, “Touchdown Israel” offers a fix.

(Tickets are available for screenings Feb. 5 at Regal Avalon, Feb. 8 and 11 at Lefont Sandy Springs, and Feb. 12 at UA Tara.)

— Michael Jacobs

sionally pops up on Showtime. only stage a dramatic This documentary features daylight bank robbery five veterans of Iraq and Afa la Bonnie and Clyde ghanistan who take up standup or Jesse James, but do so comedy as part of their therapy. under the cover of a fake They get mentoring from such movie shoot.

Jewish comedy circuit veterans That leads to an as Bob Saget and Lewis Black, actual movie shoot reand they thrive onstage. creating the heist when One of the five is Jewish war the authorities decide veteran Joe Kashnow of Baltito turn their crime and more, an amputee who works their trial into a propahilarious observations on Jewganda film. So you’re watching a movie about Davening mixes with football in the Israel Football League, highlighted ish life into his routines. in “Touchdown Israel.”

“Comedy Warriors” is both the shooting of a movie funnier than “Zero Motivation” about the fake shooting nominated for and won in Israel. In of a movie — a farcical sequence that fact, Dana Ivgy’s performance as rebel- and more moving, reminding us that fits the very Jewish fatalism of the bank lious, frustrated, virginal Zohar is de- the men and women who have fought robbers. serving of her best-actress award, and our wars since 2001 will be living with the consequences for decades.

“Moon” is a high-quality produc- the actors around her are excellent. tion filled with familiar Hollywood My problem is with the script, (Tickets are available for screenfaces, led by Vera Farmiga of “Up in the which won best screenplay for writer- ings Feb. 5 at GTC Merchants Walk and Air” and Mark Strong of “Tinker Tailor director Talya Lavie. I appreciate dark Feb. 6 at Regal Avalon.)

Soldier Spy” and those British-villain humor as much as anyone, but Lavie — Michael Jacobs Jaguar commercials. too often loses the humor completely (The Feb. 2 screening is sold out, in the darkness, a lack of subtlety and FOOTBALL AFTER SUPER SUNDAY but tickets remain for Feb. 5 at GTC deftness that doesn’t work in a film he National Football League seaMerchants Walk, Feb. 13 at UA Tara and that usually goes for the ridiculous. son is ending Feb. 1 with Super Feb. 17 at Lefont Sandy Springs.)

Bowl XLIX between the Patriots The difference with “M*A*S*H” — Michael Jacobs is clear early on. Whereas the Ko- and Seahawks, but you can keep getrean War movie mines comedy and a ting a fix of American football through ALMOST ‘M*A*S*H’ memorable theme song from a phony “Touchdown Israel.”

Yes, there is an American football ero Motivation” is a military suicide attempt, the peacetime “Zero” satire. As such, it’s easy to ex- opts for shocks over laughs with a suiplain through comparisons cide scene. It’s hard to find consistent with familiar American military sat- humor afterward. ires, such as the great “M*A*S*H” and (While screenings Feb. 3, 6 and 14 the less great if more Jewish “Catch-22.” are sold out, tickets remain for Feb. 11 But despite some funny moments, this at UA Tara.)

Israeli film is as close to the flop sitcom — Michael Jacobs sequel “After M*A*S*H” as to Robert Altman’s movie masterpiece.

LAUGHING THROUGH PAIN

Maybe you have to experience the ou want real humor sharpened drudgery of mandatory military serby the poignancy and pain of vice to appreciate “Zero Motivation,” war? Go see “Comedy Warriors: explaining all the awards the film was Healing Through Humor,” which occa-

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Win Tickets To the Festival The Atlanta Jewish Times wants to give you the chance to enjoy the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, so we’re giving away two tickets to the Feb. 8 screening of “The Prime Ministers: Soldiers and Peacemakers” at 8:10 p.m. at Regal Cin- Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin get together in “The Prime Ministers.” emas Avalon. Between Monday, Feb. 2, and Thursday, Feb. 5, you’ll be able to enter the contest through our website, www.atlantajewishtimes.com. Just look for the festival giveaway article and add a comment about which slate you support in the World Zionist Congress and why. We’ll randomly select one of the commenters and announce the winner Feb. 5. Don’t worry if you don’t win the tickets this time; we’ll have one more giveaway before the festival ends.

City Wide Networking Event We are looking to grow our group and businesses with like minded Jewish professionals in these fields and many more: Business Broker Payroll Service Interior Designer Business Coach Event Planner

Psychologist/Therapist Office Supplies Commercial Realtor Banker Chiropractor

Printer/Sign Company Personal Trainer Builder/Remodeler Life Insurance CPA (This spot just filled)

& Many More Speed Networking, Meet Many Professionals

Febuary 3, 2015 Congregation B’nai Torah

700 Mt. Venron Hwy, NE Sandy Springs GA 30328 From 5:00PM - 8:00PM

Admission: $5.00

www.jewishnetworkingalliance.org Complementry Refreshments Served

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

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Grow Your Business & Network

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Handcrafted History of Polish Jews

In ‘Raise the Roof,’ two UGA grads bring a lost masterpiece back to life

By Penny Schwartz

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JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

ow often do you get a chance to reach deep into history and bring it back?

That’s the question that inspired Laura and Rick Brown to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime, decade-long journey into the nearly lost world of Poland’s 17th- and 18th-century wooden synagogues. With their three-tier roofs and gloriously painted interiors, the synagogues were architectural gems built during a period referred to as the golden era of Polish Jewry.

Nearly 200 wooden synagogues lasted into the 20th century, but none survived the Nazi occupation of Poland. Along with the buildings, the knowledge of the synagogues was nearly lost.

The Browns’ unlikely odyssey to bring back to life one of the most magnificent of these synagogues is told in “Raise the Roof,” a documentary by the award-winning father-son filmmaking team of Cary and Yari Wolinsky.

The film will make its official world premiere at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival with four screenings from Feb. 3 to 13. The Browns and the filmmakers will attend postscreening discussions Feb. 12 and 13.

“Raise the Roof” follows the Browns and their international team of artisans and hundreds of students as they re-create the roof and painted ceiling of the Gwozdziec Synagogue in what is now part of Ukraine.

The re-created structure, built by hand using methods and materials that would have been used for the original, is once again a gem and available for the world to see as the centerpiece exhibit of the new Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews, which opened last fall in Warsaw with great fanfare. The exhibit includes a full-size, hand-carved and hand-painted bimah, the prayer podium that stood in the center of the prayer hall.

“The recovery of this lost object is an epic story,” said Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, the program director of the core exhibition of the Polin Museum. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, one of the scholars interviewed in the film, described the painted ceiling as a “celestial canopy,” reflecting a rich period of Polish Jewish history that 26 contrasts sharply with the stereotypi-

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“One of the most rewarding aspects of the project was nurturing the hundreds of students who participated,” Rick and Laura Brown said. “Creating this project brought together people of all ages, faiths, backgrounds and nationalities.”

Laura Brown added: “It is nice to be showing in my hometown, and I hope it’s significant to Atlanta as well.” ■ A: Rick Brown holds the photo of Gwozdziec Synagogue that inspired the reconstruction.

C cal images of impoverished shtetl life.

The Browns, who are not Jewish and have no Polish ancestry, are artists and inspired educators who have ties to Atlanta. Laura Smith Brown was born and raised in Atlanta in a Catholic family devoted to and active in Christ the King Ca- D thedral on Peachtree Street. She met Rick, who grew up in Virginia, when they were students at the University of Georgia.

Growing up, she said, she had a few Jewish friends but never visited a synagogue in Atlanta.

The Browns, who live in Boston, are longtime faculty members at the Massachusetts College of Art. In 2000 they founded Handshouse, a nonprofit educational organization producing hands-on interdisciplinary projects that explore history by re-creating large objects nearly lost to history.

The Browns’ passion for traditional methods enables the artists and students to learn about the culture that created the synagogue, Laura Brown says in the film.

B: Laura Brown measures a trim board made to cover the seams between the dome and pendentive panels.

C: Meticulous work by the Browns’ team goes into re-creating the synagogue’s beauty.

D: Rick and Laura Brown review details on photographs of the Polish synagogues that no longer exist.

Photos courtesy of Trillium Studios

Seeing the Film

Film producer Cary Wolinsky, an award-winning National Geographic filmmaker and photographer, told the Atlanta Jewish Times that making the film was a “roots” journey in which he discovered that Polish Jewish history, including his own Jewish ancestry, was not only a story of the Holocaust, but also a “vibrant and creative Jewish culture” that existed for 1,000 years.

The film captures the dynamic learning process that the Browns inspire in their students, who, along with hewing logs, grinding paints and mastering medieval brushstrokes, become history detectives. Several University of Georgia students participated in workshops to build the synagogue.

“Raise the Roof” (www.polishsynagogue.com) is showing four times during the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. Screenings Feb. 8 at Regal Cinemas Avalon and Feb. 12 at Lefont Sandy Springs are sold out, but tickets are available for two screenings (visit ajff.org for tickets): • Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 2:50 p.m. at GTC Merchants Walk in East Cobb with Rabbis Without Borders’ Rabbi Pamela Jay Gottfried and Emory history professor Ellie Schainker discussing the movie afterward.

• Friday, Feb. 13, at 11:10 a.m. at Lefont Sandy Springs with postfilm appearances by the Browns, the Wolinskys, student Lindsay Pennington, Camp Ramah Darom art director Dafna Robinson and the Telluride Film Festival’s Shelton Stanfill.

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OBITUARIES – MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE A BLESSING

Malvin Englander 94, Surfside, Fla.

A practicing attorney on Miami Beach until age 90, Judge Malvin Englander, father of Donna (Mark) Fleishman of Atlanta, passed away Jan. 6, 2015, in Surfside, Fla.

He was a former justice of the peace, city councilman and vice mayor of the city of Miami Beach. He left an indelible impression on politics and government and was known for his humor, quick wit and knowledge of the law.

His life was filled with family — his wife, Sophia Tendrich Englander, born in Atlanta, and five daughters and a son.

Married just shy of 72 years, Judge Englander instilled in the family a love of law and the honor of public service and making a difference in the community.

Judge Englander was a member of the BPOE Elks, Kiwanis, Masonic Lodge and Miami Beach High School Hall of Fame. He was a graduate of the University of Miami and its law school. Until his death, he was the oldest living active member of the State Bar of Florida. He also was a proud member of the greatest generation, having served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a son-in-law, Jon Henning.

In addition to his daughter Donna and his wife, Sophia, he is survived by daughters Nicki Grossman (Mel), Judge Patti Henning, Tobie Bagliebter (Gary) and Marla Carroll (John); son Joe Englander (Chantal); 10 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.

Evelyn Gerson 94, Atlanta Evelyn Gerson, loving wife, mother, grandmother and mother-in-law, age 94, passed away peacefully on Jan. 27, 2015.

Mrs. Gerson was born October 13, 1920, in Forsyth, Ga., to Anna and Alexander Lipsius. She was a longtime resident of Atlanta, where she raised her three children. Mrs. Gerson was a member of Ahavath Achim Synagogue and loved cheering on her beloved Atlanta Braves and Georgia Bulldogs.

Strength is in the blood of the Gerson women: throughout her life, she always maintained a positive attitude and was an exemplary role model to her friends and family –– always looking on the bright side, no matter what life circumstances came her way. Most important, she had a contagious smile and defined what it meant to be a caring mother, mother-in-law and grandmother.

She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Shelley Gerson and Scott Kenith, Atlanta; brother and sister-in-law, Joe and Ann Lipsius, Atlanta; sonin-law, Marty Taffel; and grandchildren, Myles and Melissa Taffel, Alison and Marc Rabinowitz, and Jillian Gerson. Mrs. Gerson was preceded in death by her husband, Joe Gerson; a daughter, Arleen Taffel; and a son, Randy Gerson, of blessed memory. A special thank-you to her caregiver, Jonette Underwood, for her devoted love and genuine friendship with Evelyn.

Condolences may be expressed at edressler.com. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund or the American Psychological Association. A graveside service was held Wednesday, Jan. 28, at Greenwood Cemetery with Rabbi Neil Sandler officiating. Arrangements by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770451-4999.

Howard Chesler, 88, of Dunwoody, a member of Congregation Shearith Israel, widower of Beatrice Chesler and father of Ellen Connely, on Jan. 23.

Leonid Feigin on Jan. 17.

Muriel Blumberg Gundersheimer, 90, of Columbus, Ohio, mother of Temple Kol Emeth member Lynn Bodenstein, on Jan. 13.

Owen Halpern, 62, of Atlanta, an Ahavath Achim Synagogue member and brother of Carolyn Oppenheimer, Alan Halpern, Jack Halpern and Rick Halpern, on Jan. 23.

Lnor Franklin Levine, 70, of Dunwoody, a member of The Temple, wife of Joel Levine, and mother of Alan Levine and David Levine, on Jan. 24.

David Ohayon on Jan. 18.

Roy William Server, 98, of Atlanta, father of Jeffrey Server, Ellen Server and Raya Wasser and widower of Alberta Pollock Server, on Jan. 18.

Theodore Spitalnick of Marietta, husband of Nancy Spitalnick and father of Aaron Spitalnick, on Jan. 25.

Semen Vidrin, 82, Chabad of North Fulton member and father of Nataliya Shevchuk, on Jan. 18.

CANDLE-LIGHTING TIMES

Parsha Beshalach Friday, Jan. 30, light candles at 5:48 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 31, Shabbat ends at 6:46 p.m.

Parsha Yitro Friday, Feb. 6, light candles at 5:55 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 7, Shabbat ends at 6:52 p.m.

The obituaries we run come to us from funeral homes and are paid for by the families, but many families decline this option. The Atlanta Jewish Times, however, believes that notices of deaths in our community are newsworthy and important to everyone. We therefore this week begin running a list of recent deaths beyond the paid obituaries, based on information collected from synagogues, Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care and other sources.

We will endeavor to improve the comprehensiveness and detail of this list in the weeks to come, and we invite all area synagogues to include the AJT in their condolence announcements so that we can include their information here. Send notices of deaths to editor@atljewishtimes.com.

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

Death Notices

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SIMCHAS

A High-Tech Fairy Tale

Atlanta lawyer finds his Tu B’Shevat bride in China

By Babette Freed karottop1@aol.com

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u B’Shevat, a beautiful holiday, will be celebrated Feb. 4 this year. It is the holiday of the trees, flowers and fruits. But our family has more to celebrate because it will be the first anniversary of my son Gary’s marriage to Rui, a special, sweet flower.

Feb. 19 will mark the Chinese new year. It has become our family custom to celebrate both our new year and the Chinese new year. It all began with new technology.

Remember the song “Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you, if you are young at heart”? This is the story of a young lawyer who for many years was seeking true love.

“Have I the woman for you!” No, it was not the typical Jewish matchmaker but a client of his. “She is beautiful, gentle, warm and loving.

She is perfect to be your soul mate and will be the wife you desire.”

But his good friend added: “There is only one problem. She is my wife’s cousin, who lives in Shanghai, China.”

My son confirmed that he had found the princess who fit the glass slipper through Skype, which they set up in their homes. Every morning and every evening, they spoke.

They laughed, learned to know each other’s thoughts, spoke over breakfast and dinner. Only his meals were in Atlanta and hers in Shanghai.

This continued for two years until he traveled to China to meet Rui (Ray) and visit some of his clients.

His dream was real. They had found love through modern technology and frequent-flier miles.

After many messages to the Chinese and American governments, Rui and her daughter eventually arrived in the United States. “Mom and

Dad, Chinese new year is the beginning of February, as is our Tu B’Shevat,” Gary said.

“Please come to Atlanta and celebrate the holidays with us.”

Pinching the edges of the dumplings, similar to how as a child I pinched kreplach in my mother’s kitchen, was my next task. I watched Rui gracefully place the dumplings on each plate. It was a beautiful family; her cousins and aunt were so kind and gentle. Warmth permeated the kitchen as I began to know Lillian, my 10-year-old future granddaughter, and our new family.

The girl wanted to take an American name, and because my motherin-law had no one named after her, she became Lillian. It could not be a better name, after a woman I adored.

I will call her Lilly for the beautiful flowers that float in the lily pond at Brooklyn College, where I spent so much of my youth.

We returned to Georgia to attend the wedding; my husband ate dumplings with chopsticks, although this time they were from the Chinese market, frozen. No more pinching dough.

On Friday evening, we attended my son’s magnificent synagogue, The Temple. The rabbi blessed the couple, and Lillian and the new family worshipped at their first Jewish service. The men wore Chinese-designed yarmulkes, ordered by my son from a store in Borough Park, Brooklyn. Adorning the long, black hair of Rui and Lillian were kippot of seed pearls I bought at my temple. The meal was at an authentic Chinese restaurant.

The next evening was the dinner for out-of-town guests to meet our new family. My relatives from New

Engagement Waldman-Gross

Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Waldman announce the engagement of their daughter Jennifer Sarah to Jared Max Gross.

Jennifer Waldman graduated from the Chicago College of Performing Arts and is a singer/actress and paralegal. Max Gross graduated from Georgia State University and is employed with Fidelity Bank as the vice president of information technology.

A May wedding is planned.

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York, California and Texas dined on a combination of elegantly served Chinese and American dishes.

The wedding, Sunday at The Temple, was everything a mother could desire. My son’s adult son and daughter accompanied him down the aisle, and Rui’s daughter and aunt from China accompanied her. The ring bearer and flower girl were the children of Rui’s cousin. It was a glorious ceremony, joining two beautiful people from two beautiful cultures, and both families joined the bride and groom under the chuppah.

Meeting my son’s friends and business associates at the reception was special. You remember your child as a young boy playing baseball and soccer. He then goes off to college and finds a career in another state.

When did he grow up? When did he become a professional man?

I thought about how my son, at the age of 7, won an award for a project at school about equality. His wedding guests proved he deserved that commendation because one of the most beautiful parts of the wedding was meeting my son’s friends and our new Chinese relatives. Although I could not understand Rui’s aunt and she could not understand my English, we communicated with hugs and kisses.

My son and his family, I realized,

live in a very different world from mine. There were men and women from all parts of the globe, in various industries. His friends told stories of how they started their careers and built their businesses.

A close friend, a black judge whom I adore and who is special to my family, told me how he came through Southern prejudice and achieved his success.

A couple who dined with us described how his parents came from Cuba when he was 1 year old. As a teenager, he worked loading trucks.

Now he is one of the corporate heads of that same company. His wife’s family also moved to South Florida from Cuba when she was a young child; she now is a lawyer with my son.

There was the bride’s cousin, a wonderful Christian minister who presides over a hospice. And the wonderful, kind black gentleman, Walter, who has helped build and maintain my son’s homes for as long as Gary has lived in Atlanta.

Each guest had a tale to tell; close friendships permeated the room. The American dream had become a reality; people’s skin colors and ethnic backgrounds did not matter. It was an ecumenical party, and my husband and I were extremely proud.

One year later, we will be celebrating Tu B’Shevat and the Chinese new year with our son and our charming, loving Chinese daughterin-law and granddaughter.

Thank you, my children. ■ Babette Freed (babettefreed.com) writes for the South Florida Jewish Journal.

Engagement Berman-Miller

Debbie and Irwin Berman of Roswell announce the engagement of their daughter Michelle to Gary Miller, son of Lori and Wayne Miller of Marietta, on Dec. 9, 2014.

Michelle Berman is a freelance copywriter. Gary Miller is a mechanical engineer at ViaSat, Inc.

The couple will marry in June at the Hyatt at Villa Christina in Atlanta and will live in Atlanta.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I Can See Clearly Through Generations I never failed the eye exam. I always thought the smart kids passed the eye exam and the dumb kids didn’t. Nay, nay, not true. This childish premise was shattered when my friend Susan, who was really smart, failed the eye exam. She cried, and

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I cried with her, until the teacher’s shout boomed across the classroom: “Stop crying you two!”

Susan’s mom asked my mom if I could go with Susan to the eye doctor. Susan was hesitant, to say the least. Off I went on a brand-new adventure. I had no clue what an eye doctor did; I would soon find out.

After the eye test, Susan’s eye doctor let her choose any frames she wanted. One Monday morning, Susan entered the classroom looking like a princess. At least I thought so.

I became insanely jealous of her new look. I wanted those beautiful lightblue frames, winged edges with little diamonds. I suddenly realized failing the eye exam was a good thing.

Suddenly, I developed an eye issue. I could not see the chalkboard.

After I complained and complained, my teacher moved me a row closer. I still could not see clearly.

My teacher could see clearly and wrote to my parents to have my eyes tested. Not until I became tired of misplacing my glasses or pushing them back up on my nose because they kept slipping did I come to realize my beautiful baby-blue glasses with winged edges and diamonds were nothing more than pretend.

My princess glasses were a kind of sugar pill. No prescription, just plain glass. The doctor, teacher and my mom were in cahoots. I loved and love them for that.

So last week my daughter No. 2 and her daughter No. 1 and I were in Target. What do my daughter and I suddenly hear in a sing-song voice?

“Mommy, Savti, how do I look in these glasses?”

Indeed the apple does not fall far from the tree. ■

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y friend Susan had the most beautiful eyeglasses I’d ever seen. We were 10 years old when Susan had the good fortune of failing the school eye exam.

Every September when we returned to school, the city seemed so much darker.

It seemed the apartment buildings all added a layer of soot to their sooty coats. The streetlights, when they lighted up at night, seemed dimmer.

The city seemed sad.

At the end of every summer, after 10 weeks in the mountains of New York, those gloriously green, lush mountains with their coat of many colors created by the blooming flowers and even more colorful weeds, I dreaded returning home.

It always took me a few weeks to acclimate myself. Knowing I would go back to school and see all my city friends again made it palatable.

The fall also meant the changing of the guard in nature’s blooms.

Leaves turned a brilliant orange, yellow or red. I loved the sound my shoes made in the dried leaves that fell to the ground. I loved kicking those leaves and watching them fly.

Fall was also synonymous with the Jewish High Holidays. All my Christian friends looked forward to those holidays because the entire New York school system was closed.

Jews and Christians alike were celebrating, albeit for different reasons.

And then there was the eye exam given every September by our classroom teacher. We were called alphabetically by last name and instructed to stand behind the white chalk line for our eye exam. My last name started with the letter W, so I saw how everyone else was faring.

The chalk line was carefully measured by our teacher with a black-and-white measuring tape reserved for eye exam day. So as not to waste a teaching moment, a math lesson was built around this yearly event — how many inches in a foot, how many feet from the white chalk line to the eye chart, how many letters on each line of the eye chart, how many letters in all. Good grief, everything was a learning experience, even an eye exam.

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CLOSING THOUGHTS

Relief in Magnetic Pulses

C

JANUARY 30 ▪ 2015

ellphones provide mixed blessings.

Being available when my out-of-town family calls is a blessing. My children and their children have learned they can call me almost any time of the day or night, and I’ll usually answer. When the call is from my son, if he’s using FaceTime, it means one of my grandchildren is with him. The only time I’ll decline one of those calls is if I’m in the shower.

Recently, my daughter-in-law called from Canada when I was in a doctor’s office, having a TMS treatment. It wasn’t a good idea to take her call, but I wanted to explain why I couldn’t talk.

“Magnetic pulses are stimulating my brain, and it’s too noisy for me to talk now,” I said while the rapidly repeating pulses made rata-tat sounds about 50 times before a pause in the magnetic pulsing and the noise it generated. I was scheduled for 5,000 pulses, which would take 40 minutes. She called with 10 minutes to go.

Most people have no idea what transcranial magnetic stimulation is, and I wanted to explain before hanging up. “I’m sitting in what looks like a dental chair, and it feels and sounds like a woodpecker is pecking on my scalp,” I said. “Today I’m receiving 5,000 pulses.”

“What did you say?” she asked, sounding incredulous. “I don’t understand.”

Relationships between in-laws can be tricky. Because my desire is to have meaningful relationships, my policy is to be honest and authentic, which I hope will invite my in-law to respond the same way.

I told her it was too noisy for me to explain. Besides, a magnet in my cellphone might interfere with the treatment. The technician in my treatment room was gesturing that I should hang up, so I told my daughter-in-law I’d call back.

TMS is a new therapy used on people who suffer from depression and are treatment-resistant, which means psychotropic drugs don’t work.

For insurance to cover these expensive treatments, paperwork needs to show that the patient has 30 failed to find relief from three or

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four antidepressant drugs.

The typical protocol is 35 treatments, which take place five days a week for seven weeks and cost $15,000.

My situation is not typical.

It was ECT, or electroconvulsive therapy, that lifted me out of a debilitating depression.

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Some patients who have a positive response to ECT and don’t take antidepressants get monthly ECT to maintain a depression-free lifestyle.

I was not interested in doing that, so my doctor suggested trying TMS as a maintenance therapy.

Medicare and my secondary insurance company agreed to pick up the tab, and I’ve recently completed six treatments.

The doctor explained there’s no protocol for treating someone like me. He wanted me to experience the treatment to make sure I could tolerate it. Some people get headaches.

That’s understandable. Experiencing 5,000 woodpeckerlike sensations in a short time is bound to have effects.

There’s a large-screen television in the treatment room. Daytime TV has never appealed to me though, so I talk to the technician during the treatment.

These conversations have provided interesting information.

For instance, if patients are suffering from anxiety in addition to depression, the magnetic strip is placed on the right side of the head instead of the left.

One woman who suffered from fibromyalgia reported that she woke up one day after 30 treatments and was free of the total body pain she had suffered without relief.

There’s a lot of research going on about this new treatment.

Emory’s psychiatry department is one of many places doing investigational studies for other applications of TMS. Off-label, people are being treated for migraine headaches and other pain syndromes.

I intend to do some research and find out more about this. I’ll keep you posted. ■

ACROSS 1. Like some Talmudic references 8. Not Kenny G’s usual instrument 12. Big first for little Moisheleh 16. Harry Connick Jr., e.g.

17. Custard dessert, often made kosher for Passover 18. Pepsi Max is a popular one in Israel 19. Star who played an archaeologist in 67-Across’s 1981 film 21. Dead sea, or at least one moving in that direction 22. Friday night gathering 23. How an Anglo poet might say laila 24. Blintz, essentially 25. Star who played an oceanographer in 67-Across’s 1975 film 31. Three rhyming sources of damage in the Talmud: bor (pit), chamor (donkey), and ___ (ox) 32. One of 131 “Righteous Among the Nations” from a major Balkan country 33. Balaam’s donkey, perhaps 34. Place to get some shekels 37. Branch out on Sukkot?

40. Friday, to Shabbat 42. Star who played a sidekick in a 2008 film by 67-Across 45. When very thankful, say it after todah 49. The one for “To Tell the Truth” often included Kitty Carlisle 50. Einstein and Salk, e.g.

51. Stereotypical sleep sound for Zaidy 52. Make like a gonif 53. Star who played a nightclub singer in a 1984 film by 67- Across 56. Empire in the Western Hemisphere during Torah times, approximately 58. Location of one of nine Chabad centers in the Caribbean 59. The Sinai has few (abbr.)

60. The Chazon ___ 63. “I ___ Extremes”

(Billy Joel song) 65. Costa ___, the only nation with an embassy in Jerusalem 67. Subject of this puzzle 72. A Koufax rookie card compared to a Kershaw 73. Cable sta. where Goldberg would fight 74. Dynamic start for some IDF vehicles 77. 03 is this kind of code for Tel Aviv 78. Star who played a mathematician in 67- Across’s 1993 film 83. Like ISIS 84. Ingredient in some Ahava products 85. Critic Kael 86. The Jewish ___ (photography curriculum) 87. Way to work for many Five Towners 88. One rushing to make it home before Shabbat, perhaps DOWN 1. Bris numero 2. Raisin cereal that’s kosher but not for Passover 3. Egypt compared to Iraq, after losing in 1948 4. Breed of dogs owned by a monarch who lives near Golders Green 5. Brandeis or Bar Ilan, to an Aussie 6. Mantis Vision, Israeli-made Hi-___ 3D scanner 7. Primo Levi said I was this way 8. Killed, as Solomon did to many of his enemies 9. Bar Refaeli and Marilyn Monroe 10. Item that helped save Danish Jewry in 1943 11. V’zot Habracha, in terms of Torah portions 12. Chow (down) at a siyum 13. Dominated at the Maccabi games 14. Pass, as six hours before milchigs 15. Most similar to Winona Ryder 20. Chanukah candle 24.

Location of JDate 26. David to Goliath 27. Jewish jig 28. Many a Middle Easterner 29. Sight in Eilat waters 30. Make the wrong bracha, e.g.

34. Snakes that were staffs, maybe 35. Improve, as NetanyahuObama ties 36. ___-me (rival of Seth Green’s character in the “Austin Powers” movies) 38. Hindu psalm 39. Major line in Asher’s lev?

41. Sheruts 43. Frat rushed by many Jews 44. Shyster, perhaps 46. Notable Niels 47. City near the Dead Sea 48. Carves commandments into tablets, say 53. Actress Dennings and others 54. Feature on the side of a Hasidic child’s face 55. Earlier name for the springtime month of Nisan 57. Bugsy Siegel or Mickey Cohen 60. AKA Jacob 61. Really, really fast?

62. Part of the sefer I’m holding 64. Choose, as the Jewish people 66. Fallow, as land during shmita 68. Meats that are kosher but controversial 69. Use clues, as to guess if someone is Jewish 70. Lang. often spoken in Raanana 71. Like Ben & Jerry’s 75. Letter chiseled on a tablet, perhaps 76. Forty-niner?

78. El Al alternative 79. High Priest with wicked sons 80. Gadsar, Israeli special ___ unit 81. Race unit for Mark Spitz 82. Like some dates?

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